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CompletedNCT00144040IMPAACTUpdated Apr 7, 2015

Improving Antibiotic Use in Acute Care Treatment

An interventional study of Physician & patient education on appropriate antibiotic use and Rapid C-reactive protein testing to guide antibiotic treatment in Respiratory Infections, sponsored by US Department of Veterans Affairs. Completed at 9 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2015-04-07.

Sponsored by US Department of Veterans Affairs · Not applicable and Interventional

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
1,000
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Purpose The emergence and rapid rise in antibiotic resistance among common bacteria are adversely affecting the clinical course and health care costs of community-acquired infections. Because antibiotic resistance rates are strongly correlated with antibiotic use patterns, multiple organizations have declared reductions in unnecessary antibiotic use to be critical components of efforts to combat antibiotic resistance. Among humans, the vast majority of unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions are used to treat acute respiratory tract infections (ARIs) that have a viral etiology. Although the rate of antibiotic prescribing for ARIs by office-based physicians in the US has decreased about 16% from its peak in 1997, the rate of antibiotic prescribing in acute care settings (eg, emergency departments and urgent care centers), which account for 1 in 5 ambulatory antibiotic prescriptions in the US, has shown only a modest decline (6%) during this period. Translation of lessons from intervention studies in office-based practices is needed to improve antibiotic use in acute care settings.

Read the detailed description

Objectives:

Specific Aim 1: To evaluate the impact of a multidimensional (patient, system, clinician) intervention on appropriate antibiotic use for adults with acute respiratory tract infections-- identifying factors that influence successful translation across VA hospital and non-VA hospital acute care. Specific Aim 2: To evaluate the impact of a rapid diagnostic test for c-reactive protein on antibiotic use for adults with acute cough illness when added to a multidimensional intervention.

Methods:

We propose to conduct a randomized controlled trial of a quality improvement program consisting of physician education (educational seminar, practice guidelines, performance feedback, and decision support tools) and patient education (waiting room print and audiovisual materials) in 8 VA hospital and 8 non-VA hospital emergency departments. Non VA study sites will be identified from an existing research network of hospital emergency departments--EDNet. VA hospital sites will be selected among academically affiliated hub facilities. Phase one will involve a hospital-level randomized trial of a multidimensional intervention to translate existing evidence based guidelines for antibiotic use in ARIs vs. usual care. Simultaneously, we will validate a new CRP-based diagnostic algorithm and incorporate it into the evidence based guidelines for antibiotic use in ARIs. Phase two will involve a second hospital-level randomized trial of the new antibiotic use guidelines that incorporate the CRP-based diagnostic algorithm vs. the original guidelines. Specific endpoints include the overall success of the intervention in each phase in terms of reducing antibiotic prescribing for ARIs, improving patient outcomes and reducing resource utilization. In addition we will examin the impact of VA and non-VA organizational factors on the successful translation of various components of the intervention in both phases. Data will be collected using existing administrative data as well as on-site enrollment of subjects in prospective follow-up studies.

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Conditions studied

  • Respiratory Infections

Keywords

  • Antibiotics
  • Respiratory Infections
  • Quality Assurance, Healthcare
  • Professional Education
  • Emergency Services, Medical
  • Education, Patient
03

In context

Respiratory Tract Infections

1,031 studies on the registry are indexed under Respiratory Tract Infections; 144 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 1,000 is above the median of 199 across 698 interventional studies indexed under Respiratory Tract Infections.

Browse Respiratory Tract Infections studies →

Lead sponsor

US Department of Veterans Affairs is the lead sponsor of 658 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Emergency room patient
  • Selected VA or Non-VA patients
  • Age 18 years or older
  • Patient must have acute respiratory illness
  • Patient must not have been seen in Emergency Department within 4 weeks

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients less than 18 years of age
  • Patient in Emergency Department for non-acute respiratory infection
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Factorial assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
1,000 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Other
    Arm 1

    Behavioral: Physician & patient education on appropriate antibiotic use · Procedure: Rapid C-reactive protein testing to guide antibiotic treatment

Interventions

  • BehavioralPhysician & patient education on appropriate antibiotic use
  • ProcedureRapid C-reactive protein testing to guide antibiotic treatment
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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Proportion of all acute respiratory infection visits treated with antibiotics

Secondary outcomes

  1. Delayed antibiotic treatment of acute respiratory infections; Patient satisfaction

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Study locations

9 sites
  • VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA
    San Diego, California 92161, United States
  • Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, Augusta, GA
    Augusta, Georgia 30904, United States
  • Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, Hines, IL
    Hines, Illinois 60141-5000, United States
  • Kansas City VA Medical Center, Kansas City, MO
    Kansas City, Missouri 64128, United States
  • New Mexico VA Health Care System, Albuquerque, NM
    Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108-5153, United States
  • James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, NY
    Bronx, New York 10468, United States
  • Philadelphia VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
  • VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System University Drive Division, Pittsburgh, PA
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15240, United States
  • South Texas Health Care System, San Antonio, TX
    San Antonio, Texas 78229, United States
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References and documents

Publications

  • Metlay JP, Camargo CA Jr, Bos K, Gonzales R. Assessing the suitability of intervention sites for quality improvement studies in emergency departments. Acad Emerg Med. 2005 Jul;12(7):667-70. doi: 10.1197/j.aem.2005.01.012. PubMed 15995102 ↗
  • Gonzales R, Camargo CA Jr, MacKenzie T, Kersey AS, Maselli J, Levin SK, McCulloch CE, Metlay JP; IMPAACT Trial Investigators. Antibiotic treatment of acute respiratory infections in acute care settings. Acad Emerg Med. 2006 Mar;13(3):288-94. doi: 10.1197/j.aem.2005.10.016. PubMed 16514122 ↗
  • Vanderweil SG, Pelletier AJ, Hamedani AG, Gonzales R, Metlay JP, Camargo CA Jr. Declining antibiotic prescriptions for upper respiratory infections, 1993-2004. Acad Emerg Med. 2007 Apr;14(4):366-9. doi: 10.1197/j.aem.2006.10.096. Epub 2007 Feb 12. PubMed 17296803 ↗
  • Aspinall SL, Metlay JP, Maselli JH, Gonzales R. Impact of hospital formularies on fluoroquinolone prescribing in emergency departments. Am J Manag Care. 2007 May;13(5):241-8. PubMed 17488189 ↗
  • Metlay JP, Camargo CA Jr, MacKenzie T, McCulloch C, Maselli J, Levin SK, Kersey A, Gonzales R; IMPAACT Investigators. Cluster-randomized trial to improve antibiotic use for adults with acute respiratory infections treated in emergency departments. Ann Emerg Med. 2007 Sep;50(3):221-30. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2007.03.022. Epub 2007 May 23. PubMed 17509729 ↗
  • Nolt BR, Gonzales R, Maselli J, Aagaard E, Camargo CA Jr, Metlay JP. Vital-sign abnormalities as predictors of pneumonia in adults with acute cough illness. Am J Emerg Med. 2007 Jul;25(6):631-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2006.11.031. PubMed 17606087 ↗
  • Pines JM, Hollander JE, Lee H, Everett WW, Uscher-Pines L, Metlay JP. Emergency department operational changes in response to pay-for-performance and antibiotic timing in pneumonia. Acad Emerg Med. 2007 Jun;14(6):545-8. doi: 10.1197/j.aem.2007.01.022. Epub 2007 Apr 30. PubMed 17470905 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 7, 2015, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00144040
Lead sponsor
US Department of Veterans Affairs
Collaborators
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Sep 2, 2005
Start date
Feb 2004
Completion
Jul 2007
Last update
Apr 7, 2015

Study contacts

Joshua P. Metlay, MD PhD
principal investigator · Philadelphia VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Apr 2015. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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