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CompletedNCT03488069Updated Apr 9, 2018

Sedation Practices and Preferences of Turkish Intensive Care Physicians: National Survey

An observational study in Critical Illness and Sedation, sponsored by Istanbul University. Completed at 1 site in Turkey. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2018-04-09.

Sponsored by Istanbul University · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Other
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
429
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Sedation is one of the most common practices applied in intensive care units (ICU) and the management of sedation, analgesia and delirium is a quality measure in ICUs. Several intensive care societies published guidelines regarding the use of sedatives and analgesics recently. In literature there are many survey studies investigating practices of sedation in ICUs of different countries, but knowledge of the sedation practices of intensive care physicians in Turkey is lacking. The aim of this study was to provide a baseline knowledge on this matter and to establish some points to be improved. An electronic survey form, consisting of 34 questions was generated with google forms, posted to 1700 email addresses and 429 returned (25%). The survey included questions about demographics and choices and routines of sedation, analgesia, neuromuscular blockers and delirium administration. Ninety-six percent of the respondents indicated that they practiced sedation in their ICUs and mechanical ventilation was checked as the primary indication (94%). On the question regarding drug choices for sedation, midazolam was the most preferred agent (90%). About pain questions, the most used evaluation tool was visual analogue scale (69.0%) and 83% of the respondents preferred to use tramadol for pain, followed by paracetamol (81.6%). Of the participants, 50.5% indicated that they routinely evaluated delirium and 56% of them used confussion assessment method for ICU. The awareness of 2013 American College of Critical Care Medicine (ACCM) guideline for the management of pain, agitation, and delirium was only 38%. The results of this survey have indicated some areas to be improved, such as low incidence of written sedation protocols, frequent use of benzodiazepines, and delirium screening. A national guideline should be prepared taking pain, agitation, and delirium in focus.

Read the detailed description

This national survey study and questionnaire was approved by the institutional ethics committee of Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Medical School (approval nr. 261075, date 07.07.2017).

An electronic survey form consisting of 34 questions was generated with google forms (https://docs.google.com/forms) after a literature search with search words "sedation" and "practice" and "survey".

The first part of the form included questions about demographics, intensive care, and hospital characteristics. The second part contained questions on choices and routines of sedation administration, which multiple choices could be indicated.

The questions were first pilot tested for misunderstandings with the ICU physicians in two intensive care units, and the link for the survey was posted to all email addresses registered in the Turkish Society of Intensive Care member database (1700 members) on 2.8.2017. A second notification was sent to same email addresses on 16.10.2017 with a notice of not to reply the survey if it was replied after the first email. Participation in the survey was voluntary and anonymous, and there was no compensation for participation.

Accepting responses to the survey was stopped in 01/11/2017, and answers were downloaded from the web site.

Statistical Analysis The answers were analyzed using Excel spreadsheets (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA). The demographic data are expressed as mean (±SD) and counts and percentages. The answers regarding sedation practices are expressed as counts and percentages. No statistical comparisons had been made as this was a descriptive study.

02

Conditions studied

  • Critical Illness
  • Sedation

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Keywords

  • critical care
  • sedation
  • practice
  • survey
03

In context

Critical Illness

1,780 studies on the registry are indexed under Critical Illness; 442 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 429 is above the median of 140 across 814 observational studies indexed under Critical Illness.

Browse Critical Illness studies →

Lead sponsor

Istanbul University is the lead sponsor of 512 studies on the registry; 78 are open to participants now.

Of its 5 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 1 (20%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
Child (0–17), Adult (18–64), Older adult (65+)
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

All intensive care physicians that are the member of Turkish Society of Intensive Care

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • All physicians accepting to participate the survey

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • None
05

Study design

Observational model
Other
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
429 participants (actual)
Patient registry
No

Interventions

  • OtherSurvey

    Submission of survey answers

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Practices and preferences of sedation

    Collection of answers to the survey

    Time frame: 3 months

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Medical School
    Istanbul, 34098, Turkey
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Urkmez S, Erdogan E, Utku T, Dikmen Y. Sedation Practices and Preferences of Turkish Intensive Care Physicians: A National Survey. Turk J Anaesthesiol Reanim. 2019 Jun;47(3):220-227. doi: 10.5152/TJAR.2019.49799. Epub 2019 Feb 24. PubMed 31183469 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Ran from Aug 2017 to primary completion in Nov 2017, 2 months.

Of 439 non-industry observational studies under Critical Illness, half reached primary completion within 23 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 12 and three quarters within 45. This study's 2 months is below that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 442 studies reached it within 23 months; a quarter within 12 and three quarters within 46.

Critical Illness covers many different conditions, not one, so the studies compared here vary widely. Read these figures as a rough guide.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Mar 28, 2018
First posted
Apr 4, 2018
StartActual
Aug 2, 2017
Primary completionActual
Nov 1, 2017
CompletionActual
Nov 1, 2017
Last update
Apr 9, 2018
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 9, 2018, 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
NCT03488069
Responsible party
seval urkmez (Principal Investigator, Istanbul University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Apr 4, 2018
Start date
Aug 2, 2017
Primary completion
Nov 1, 2017
Completion
Nov 1, 2017
Last update
Apr 9, 2018

Study contacts

seval urkmez, MD
principal investigator · IU, Cerrahpasa Medical School, Dept of Intensive Care

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Apr 2018. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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