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CompletedNCT02143661Updated Apr 30, 2020

eValuatIon of The ALl New Environment for crITicallY Ill Patients (VITALITY)

An observational study in Intensive Care Unit Environment, sponsored by Claudia Spies. Completed at 1 site in Germany. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2020-04-30.

Sponsored by Claudia Spies · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
74
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this prospective observational study is to investigate if mechanically ventilated patients who are treated in one of the new intensive care unit (ICU) rooms have less delirium compared to patients who are treated in the conventional rooms on the same ICU. The investigators will further evaluate the impact on sleep quality, circadian rhythm, global cognitive function and general outcome parameters.

The investigators recorded light and noise conditions in the ICU rooms before start of the redesigning process (subproject light and noise in the intensive care unit (LiNo-ICU)). The investigators will compare data regarding light and noise in the ICU rooms before and after the redesigning process (non-patient related data; ethical vote amendment 08.05.2014).

Read the detailed description

Delirium is one of the most frequently seen brain organ dysfunctions in the intensive care unit (ICU). Depending on the ICU population, up to 87% have delirium at some point during their critical illness. Patients with delirium have a 3fold increased risk of dying compared to patients without delirium. Studies could show that sedation is the most common independent risk factor for transitioning to delirium. However, the no-sedation approach is often challenging. ICU patients who are not sedated often develop severe anxiety and agitation. These symptoms are often treated with sedatives that have delirogenic side effects.

One of the major reasons for anxiety and agitation of patients is the ICU environment which causes distress. The feelings of being surveyed all the time by monitors, being exposed to different kinds of machinery or equipment which sometimes do not work properly are major stressors.

The objective of the interdisciplinary research project "Parametrische (T)Raumgestaltung" was the development of two redesigned intensive care rooms that help to reduce patients' anxiety, helplessness and stress through a holistic architectural approach. The patient's perception and needs, his or her obvious feelings of helplessness and fear are the starting point for a concept that is able to reduce stress factors such as functional and purely technical environment, insufficient lighting conditions and noise. Minimizing or eliminating these common stress factors in the ICU could reduce the need for sedatives and thereby reducing the incidence of ICU delirium.

02

Conditions studied

  • Intensive Care Unit Environment

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03

In context

Critical Illness

1,881 studies on the registry are indexed under Critical Illness; 462 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 74 is below the median of 130 across 867 observational studies indexed under Critical Illness.

Browse Critical Illness studies →

Lead sponsor

Claudia Spies is the lead sponsor of 13 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No
Sampling method
Probability sample

Study population

Critically ill patients

Inclusion criteria

  • Male and female patients with age ≥ 18 years
  • Expected intensive Care unit stay ≥ 48 hours
  • Invasive mechanical ventilation or non-invasive mechanical ventilation (with positive ventilation pressure >6 hours/day and high flow >30 liters) on the day of intensive care unit admission

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participation in other clinical studies 10 days before study inclusion and during the study period
  • Patients with psychiatric diseases
  • Patients with a history of stroke and known residual cognitive deficits
  • Patients with a history of cardiopulmonary arrest or pulseless electric activity with cardiopulmonary resuscitation followed by therapeutic hypothermia during entire hospital stay
  • Analphabetism
  • Anacusis or Hypoacusis with hearing aid device, Amaurosis
  • Non-German speaking
  • Allergies to any substance of the electrode fixing material
  • Lacking willingness to save and hand out data within the study
  • Accommodation in an institution due to an official or judicial order
  • History of sleep disorders
  • History or suspicion of hypoxic brain damage (e.g. intracranial bleeding)
  • History or suspicion of elevated intracranial pressure in the last 7 days before study inclusion
  • Patients with an open chest after cardiac surgery
  • The informed consent of the patient or the subject's legally acceptable representative can´t be obtained in time
  • Patient has a power of attorney or patient's provision, where he/she refuses participation in any clinical trial
05

Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
74 participants (actual)
Patient registry
No

Groups and cohorts

  • Critically ill patients in the newly designed ICU rooms

    Critically ill patients treated in one of the newly designed ICU rooms.

  • Critically ill patients in the conventional ICU rooms

    Critically ill patients treated in one of the conventional rooms on the same ICU.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Prevalence of intensive care unit delirium

    Delirium will be measured with the Confusion Assessment Method for the intensive care unit (CAM-ICU)

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

Secondary outcomes

  1. Circadian plasma melatonin level

    Plasma melatonin levels will be assessed in a maximum of three 24-hour periods. Blood samples will be collected every 4 hours within each series of measurements.

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  2. Circadian plasma cortisone level

    Plasma cortison levels will be assessed in a maximum of three 24-hour periods. Blood samples will be collected every 4 hours within each series of measurements.

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  3. Gene expression of clock genes in blood monocytes

    Clock gene levels in blood monocytes will be assessed in a maximum of three 24-hour periods. Blood samples will be collected every 4 hours within each series of measurements.

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  4. Cholinesterase activity in blood

    The Activity of Cholinesterase will be measured at least once a day, maximum three times a day.

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  5. Core body temperature

    Temperature will be measured continuously during those days

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  6. Severity of intensive care unit delirium

    Severity of delirium will be measured with the Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist (ICDSC)

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  7. Severity of anxiety

    Severity of anxiety will be measured with the Faces Anxiety Scale (FAS)

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  8. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

    At intensive care unit discharge, at hospital discharge, 3 and 6 months after intensive care unit discharge Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Incidence will be measured with the PTSS-14 Scale

    Time frame: Up to 3 and 6 months after intensive care unit discharge

  9. Barthel Index

    Barthel Index will be measured at hospital discharge, 3 and 6 months after intensive care unit discharge.

    Time frame: Up to 3 and 6 months after intensive care unit discharge

  10. Health Related Quality of Life

    At 3 and 6 months after intensive care unit discharge. Health Related Quality of Life will be measured with the Short Form questionnaire (SF-36)

    Time frame: Up to 3 and 6 months after intensive care unit discharge

  11. Global cognition and executive function

    At intensive care unit discharge, at hospital discharge, 3 and 6 months after intensive care unit discharge.

    Time frame: Up to 3 and 6 months after intensive care unit discharge

  12. Polysomnography

    Polysomnography will be performed for a maximum of three 24-hour periods. Polysomnography will start after the 1st, 3rd and 5th night of intensive care unit admission.

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  13. Subjective sleep quality

    Subjective sleep quality will be assessed with the Sleep Questionnaire SF-A from Collegium Internationale Psychiatriae Scalarum at morning of 2nd, 4th and 6th day of study participation.

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  14. Duration of mechanical and non-mechanical ventilation

    Time frame: Participants will be followed for the duration of intensive care stay, an expected average of 1 week

  15. Intensive care unit length of stay

    Time frame: Participants will be followed for the duration of intensive care stay, an expected average of 1 week

  16. Hospital length of stay

    Time frame: Participants will be followed for the duration of hospital length of stay, an expected average of 3 weeks

  17. Level of sedation

    Level of sedation will be measured with the Richmond Agitation-Sedation-Scale (RASS)

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  18. Sedation goal adherence

    Adherence of optimal sedation level measured by Richmond Agitation-Sedation-Scale (RASS)

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  19. Pain level

    Pain level will be measured with the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), or the Visualized Numeric Rating Scale (NRS-V) or the Faces Pain Scale-Revised (FPS-R) or the Behavioral Pain Scale (BPS) or the Behavioral Pain Scale for Non- Intubated (BPS-NI).

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  20. Amount of administered opioids

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  21. Amount of administered benzodiazepines

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  22. Amount of administered antipsychotics

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  23. Sepsis/Septic shock

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  24. Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA-Score)

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  25. Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS II)

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  26. Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS-28)

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  27. Acute Physiological and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II)

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  28. Sleep-wake-behavior monitoring

    Sleep-wake-behavior using actigraphy will be assessed continuously.

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  29. Light levels

    Light levels will be measured continuously.

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  30. Light frequencies

    Light frequencies will be measured continuously.

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

  31. Noise levels

    Noise levels will be measured continuously.

    Time frame: Participants will be followed for 10 days after intensive care admission

  32. Patients´ perception of the room and light environment

    Time frame: Participants will be followed for 10 days after intensive care admission

  33. Hospital mortality

    Time frame: Up to 6 months

  34. Multiplex-Genexpression analysis

    Ncounter neuroinflammation and micro rna panel are analysed

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 10 days after intensive care unit admission

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Campus Charité Mitte and Campus Virchow - Klinikum, Charité- Universitätsmedizin
    Berlin, 13353, Germany
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 30, 2020, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02143661
Lead sponsor
Claudia Spies
Responsible party
Claudia Spies (Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Campus Charité Mitte and Campus Virchow - Klinikum, Charite University, Berlin, Germany) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
May 21, 2014
Start date
May 2014
Primary completion
Apr 2017
Completion
Nov 11, 2019
Last update
Apr 30, 2020

Study contacts

Claudia Spies, MD, Prof.
study director · Charité University, Berlin, Germany

Oversight

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

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This study is completed, as verified in Apr 2020. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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