Clinical Research Directory

Digital Otoscopy Versus Standard Otoscopy on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Otitis Media in Young Children

Randomized controlled trial involving 4 pediatric primary care practices in Massachusetts. Practices will be stratified by their OM diagnosis and treatment rate, with two practices randomly assigned to the intervention arm and two to the control arm. For practices randomized to the intervention arm, their offices will be equipped with digital otoscopes (Wispr Digital Otoscope, WiscMed) in each exam room in place of traditional otoscopes. Clinicians in intervention practices will attend a two-hour initial training session on the use of digital otoscopy followed by two one-hour follow-up sessions held over a two-month run-in period prior to the study start to review best practices and troubleshoot any difficulties adapting to the new technology. Upon completion of the run-in training period, a six-month data collection period will begin. The primary outcome will consist of a difference-in-difference analysis comparing the difference in the OM Treatment Index (OMTI) from the baseline period (October 1 through March 31, 2025) to the intervention period (October 1 through March 31, 2026) between the intervention practices and the control practices. The OMTI is a measure of the rate of diagnosis and antibiotic treatment of OM, specifically calculated as the number of cases with an OM diagnosis and systemic antibiotic prescribed divided by the number of visits with a diagnosis of any acute respiratory tract illness. Secondary outcomes include analogous difference-in-difference comparisons of: 1) overall antibiotic courses prescribed; 2) overall days of antibiotics prescribed; and 3) a balancing measure of the rate of return visits with any acute respiratory tract illness diagnosis within 7 days of an index visit. Additionally, clinicians will be surveyed to assess confidence and satisfaction in diagnosing OM and preference for digital versus traditional otoscopy. To incentivize participation, practices randomized to the control arm will be loaned digital otoscopes to use for six months at the conclusion of the clinical trial.

Reducing Antimicrobial Overuse Through Targeted Therapy for Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia

The purpose of this study is to reduce the exposure of broad-spectrum antimicrobials by optimizing the rapid detection of CAP pathogens and improving rates of de-escalation following negative cultures. To accomplish this, we will perform a 3-year, pragmatic, multicenter 2 X 2 factorial cluster randomized controlled trial with four arms: a) rapid diagnostic testing b) pharmacist-led de-escalation c) rapid diagnostic testing + pharmacist-led de-escalation and d) usual care

Diagnostic Stewardship Intervention to Reduce Inappropriate Antibiotic Use for Urinary Tract Infections in Primary Care

Urine culture is the most common microbiological test in the outpatient setting in the United States. Unfortunately, contamination during collection is prevalent and undermines test accuracy, leading to incorrect diagnosis, unnecessary treatment, wasted laboratory resources, and inflated costs. Unnecessary antibiotic treatment increases the risk of developing antimicrobial resistance, one of the most serious threats to patients and public health. The goal of this clinical trial is to test whether a bilingual (English and Spanish) educational intervention, an animated video and pictorial flyer, can reduce urine culture contamination and associated inappropriate antibiotic use in adult patients visiting safety-net primary care clinics. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Does providing patients with a bilingual educational intervention reduce urine culture contamination rates? 2. Does the intervention lead to fewer unnecessary urinary antibiotic prescriptions? 3. Does providing patients with a bilingual educational intervention reduce contaminated urinalyses? Researchers will compare patients randomized to receive the educational intervention (video and flyer) to those receiving usual care to see if the intervention improves urine collection accuracy and reduces inappropriate antibiotic use. Participants will watch a short, animated video with step-by-step instructions for proper midstream clean-catch urine (MSCC) collection, receive a pictorial flyer (with stills from the video) reinforcing the instructions, and provide a urine sample for culture. Hypothesis: patients who receive the educational intervention will have: lower urine culture contamination rates (primary outcome), fewer urinary antibiotic prescriptions (secondary outcome), and fewer contaminated urinalyses (secondary outcome). The objectives are to (1) develop educational tools: Create an animated video and pictorial flyer with step-by-step urine collection instructions for women and men, developed through an iterative, stakeholder-engaged process, (2) assess acceptability: Use mixed methods (quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews) to evaluate and refine the tools for usability and cultural/linguistic appropriateness, and (3) test effectiveness: Conduct a randomized controlled trial to assess the intervention's impact on urine contamination rates, antibiotic prescribing, and patient satisfaction.

Digital Otoscope Versus Education and Feedback for Otitis Media in Young Children

Randomized controlled trial involving 40 pediatric primary care clinicians with high rates of diagnosing and treating middle ear infections. Ten enrolled clinicians will be randomly assigned to each of 4 arms for a three-month trial: 1) personalized education and feedback about proper ear infection diagnosis; 2) use of a digital otoscope; 3) both education and feedback plus use of a digital otoscope; 4) control (no intervention).

Quality Improvement Intervention for a Safe Antimicrobial Use Reduction in Critically Ill Patients

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if an educational intervention with audit and feedback on physicians and health care professionals who participate in antimicrobial treatment decisions can reduce the use of antimicrobials in adult patients admitted to a sample of Brazilian intensive care units (ICUs). The educational intervention is based on a literature review of current recommendations for a more rational use of antimicrobials and microbiological tests in daily ICU practice. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does the educational intervention reduce the antimicrobial consumption in the intensive care units? * Does this educational intervention aiming to reduce antimicrobial utilization in accordance with the latest guidelines have any safety signals regarding ICU mortality rates or ICU length-of-stay? Researchers will compare (1) ICUs sequentially randomized to this quality improvement educational intervention aimed at improving antimicrobial utilization to (2) the same ICUs at months where the educational intervention has not been delivered yet. Each participant ICU will transition to the quality improvement intervention approximately each month, starting at July, 2025. This quality improvement intervention is based on current recommendations for antimicrobial stewardship from regulatory agencies and medical societies, including cognitive aids for physicians to improve decision-making regarding the commencement of antimicrobials, their duration and antimicrobial time-outs. The investigators hypothesize that intensivists (ICU doctors) need to embrace antimicrobial stewardship as a core competence of their daily activities.

Peer Comparison Feedback As An Antimicrobial Prescribing Intervention To General Medicine Specialists

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of a peer comparison feedback report, combined with a best practices toolkit, on the volume of antimicrobial use by general medicine physicians. The study also aims to understand the qualitative and quantitative impact of peer comparison feedback on antimicrobial prescribing in hospital. This study will leverage data from GEMINI, a hospital research collaborative that collects administrative and clinical data from 30+ Ontario hospitals, to create these peer comparison feedback reports.

Evidence Based QUality Improvement for Prescribing Stewardship in ICU (EQUIPS-ICU)

The goal of this observational study is to learn about the implementation of a process to review antimicrobial prescriptions for adult patients in Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The main question it aims to answer is: can a structured antimicrobial review can be implemented in ICUs? Implementation will be supported by the use of local protocols, audit and feedback, and education. It will be evaluated by daily data collection of clinical processes and interviews with local champions. Resources to conduct the study are provided by the Wellcome Flagship Innovations award. ("Collaboration for Research, Implementation and Training in Critical Care in Asia and Africa", reference 224048/Z/21/Z).

Knowledge Attitude and Practice Regarding Bloodstream Bacterial Infections and Antibiotics Usage Among Doctors.

This study is designed to use a questionnaire to assess doctors' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding bloodstream bacterial infections and antibiotic use in Tawam and Al Ain tertiary Hospitals (both hospitals have the same medical team) in Al Ain City, UAE.

Cost-effectiveness Analysis of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program in Regione Lombardia (RF-net2018)

Cost-effectiveness analysis of an Antimicrobial Stewardship program in Regione Lombardia: "RF-net2018" is a prospective, experimental, multicenter, pre-post study, whose objectives are the evaluation of the efficiency of economic resources allocated to the antimicrobial stewardship program (AMS) in patients with infection and in patients with infections caused by carbapenem-resistant gram-negative (CR-GN) bacteria, identified in a network of 18 hospital facilities participating in our study. Moreover, this study aims to compare hospital mortality among patients admitted to the facilities participating in the study before and during the implementation of the AMS project. The study will include two main phases of analysis: the pre-intervention-phase and the intervention phase, both of 6 months duration. The pre-intervention phase will serve as a control for the intervention phase. The intervention phase is represented by antimicrobial stewardship activities which have been implemented in the network of 18 hospital facilities and that include a group of activities listed above (Hospital commitment, Tracking and reporting, Action and Education). Data source and analysis for the cost-effectiveness analysis, using month-department as statistical unit, are regional data: Discharge record ICD-9 codes (identification of target population 1, 2, 3, average days of hospitalization and mortality), R file (for antibiotic drug consumption month-ward) and Microbio (identification of target population 2, CR-GN and MRSA bacteremia and Cases of C. difficile infection). For what concerns healthcare costs data, each Management control office of the 18 facilities has to provide: AVERAGE HOSPITALISATION DAYS, NUMBER OF HOSPITALIZED AND TRANSFERRED PATIENTS and HEALTHCARE COSTS (healthcare personnel, diagnostic services, surgical interventions and consumption of operating rooms).