Returning to Everyday Tasks Utilizing Rehabilitation Networks-III (RETURN-III)

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Millions of patients survive care in medical and surgical Intensive Care Units (ICUs) every year, only to suffer from a new or accelerated dementia-like process, called post-ICU long-term cognitive impairment (ICU-LTCI). ICU-LTCI causes considerable problems with personal relationships, return to work, and everyday tasks, such as managing medicines and money. No treatment for these patients is currently available. Technology using computerized cognitive rehabilitation could improve ICU-LTCI by harnessing the healing potential of the brain (i.e., neuroplasticity). This intervention is scalable, portable, and economical. The investigators will evaluate the effectiveness of computerized cognitive rehabilitation in a randomized controlled trial of 160 VA patients with ICU-LTCI. The investigators hypothesize that this intervention could improve cognition, and brain structure shown by MRI. This research has high potential to influence rehabilitation strategies for Veteran and civilian ICU survivors.

Detailed Description
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Over a lifetime, an average American will be admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) twice, will spend nearly a week in an ICU during their last six months of life, and will have a one in five chance of an ICU-related death. Of those millions who annually survive critical illness, ICU survivorship is marked by an inability to manage medication, handle finances, live independently, and maintain employment due to post-ICU long-term cognitive impairment (ICU-LTCI). Data from the investigators' group and others show that 50% of ICU survivors suffer from ICU-LTCI. The investigators' Veterans Affairs (VA) Merit Award funded research, Measuring the Incidence and determining risk factors for Neuropsychological Dysfunction in ICU Survivors (MIND-ICU) study, helped define the epidemiology of this persistent and progressive chronic brain dysfunction that affects both executive function and memory domains of cognition. Among survivors from medical and surgical ICUs, 40% have impairments rivaling moderate traumatic brain injury, and 30% have impairments similar to mild-moderate Alzheimer's disease. The MIND-ICU study indicates that the number of Veterans who develop ICU-LTCI is as high as the number of new traumatic brain injury diagnoses among all Active Duty, National Guard, and Reserves of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. For a public health problem of this magnitude, there is a driving unmet need to find solutions for ICU-LTCI. The investigators' pilot randomized Returning to Everyday Tasks Utilizing Rehabilitation Networks-I (RETURN-I) Study showed that a 12-week cognitive rehabilitation intervention (vs. controls) improved executive dysfunction. Next, the investigators transformed this non-computerized, resource-intensive strategy into a novel, efficient, and scalable Computerized Cognitive Rehabilitation (CCR) method. This plasticity-based adaptive CCR was applied to a case-series of ICU survivors which signaled improvements across multiple cognitive domains. Building on nearly two decades of aging brain research with the VA-Tennessee Valley Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), the investigators now propose a Phase II randomized controlled trial (RCT) to investigate the efficacy of CCR for survivors with ICU-LTCI. The Returning to Everyday Tasks Utilizing Rehabilitation Networks-III Study (RETURN-III Study) will be the next logical data-driven approach to develop and offer innovative real-world solutions for civilians and Veterans surviving critical illness with disabling ICU-LTCI. To test these hypotheses, the RETURN-III study will randomize medical and surgical VA ICU survivors to either intervention using CCR, or control of non-specific computer games. At three, and twelve months post-randomization, trained research personnel blinded to group assignment will use a validated battery to assess global cognition [primary outcome].

Official Title
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Returning to Everyday Tasks Utilizing Rehabilitation Networks-III Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial (RETURN-III Pilot RCT)

Conditions
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Cognitive Rehabilitation, ICU Survivorship, Intensive Care Unit, ICU

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Treatment Arm: Computerized Cognitive Rehabilitation
* Other: Active Control computer games


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Adults with a recent ICU stay (Medical or Surgical) requiring treatment for respiratory failure and/or shock (i.e., high-risk population) No longer requiring ICU-level care Exclusion Criteria: No history of pre-existing severe cognitive impairment (IQCODE<3.3, documentation in medical record) Unwilling to commit to participation in the intervention Under consideration for hospice Primary residence over 100 miles from enrolling site if the patient is unwilling to return to the enrolling site for follow-up Homeless without a secondary contact available Severe substance abuse or neuropsychiatric disorder of a severity that prevents independent living Active suicidal ideation Any past or present behavior that may be deemed a safety risk for follow-up Blind, deaf, or unable to understand/communicate in English Required ICU level care less than 24 hours Not capable of completing computer-based training

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: The RETURN-III study will randomize medical and surgical VA ICU survivors to either 12-weeks of intervention using Computerized Cognitive Rehabilitation (CCR), or control of non-specific computer games.
Masking: Quadruple


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Computerized Cognitive Rehabilitation<br>Computerized Cognitive Rehabilitation | Other: Treatment Arm: Computerized Cognitive Rehabilitation<br>* Treatment Arm: Computerized Cognitive Rehabilitation<br>|
| Active Comparator: Active Control computer games<br>Active Control computer games | Other: Active Control computer games<br>* Active Control computer games<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Global Cognitive Composite Score | Global Cognitive Composite Score derived from the composite score provided by the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS, range 40-160). The higher the number, the better the outcome. | 3 months | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Cognitive Rehabilitation, ICU Survivorship, Intensive Care Unit, ICU