Addressing Sleep Apnea Post-Stroke/TIA

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Effectively identifying and treating risk factors for ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) is important to patients, their family members, and healthcare systems. While obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a known risk factor for stroke and TIA that is present in more than 70% of stroke/TIA survivors, testing for OSA is infrequently performed for patients and within healthcare systems. The Addressing Sleep Apnea Post-Stroke/TIA (ASAP) study intends to improve rates of guideline-recommended OSA testing and treatment through local quality improvement initiatives (QI) conducted within and across 6 VA Medical Centers. ASAP will also determine the impact of these local QI initiatives on rates of OSA diagnosis, OSA treatment, recurrent vascular events, and hospital readmissions.

Detailed Description
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Approximately 11,000 Veterans present to a VAMC annually with an acute ischemic stroke or TIA. The cornerstone of secondary stroke/TIA prevention includes delivering timely, guideline-concordant vascular risk factor management. Over the past decade, OSA has been recognized as a potent, underdiagnosed, and inadequately treated cerebrovascular risk factor. OSA is very common among patients with stroke/TIA with a prevalence of 60-80%. Despite being highly prevalent, 70-80% of patients with OSA are neither diagnosed nor treated. Untreated OSA has been associated with poor outcomes among patients with cerebrovascular disease including higher mortality and worse functional status. The mainstay of OSA therapy is positive airway pressure (PAP). PAP reduces recurrent vascular events, improves neurological symptoms and functional status among stroke/TIA patients with OSA. The evidence favoring neurological recovery is strongest when interventions are applied early post-stroke/TIA. Guidelines recommend diagnosing and treating OSA for stroke and TIA patients; however, within VHA, very few stroke or TIA patients receive OSA screening. This guideline recommendation was informed in part by clinical trials utilizing an acute OSA assessment protocol developed and implemented by the investigators' group. To address the observed gap in care, the investigators propose a Hybrid Type I, randomized, stepped-wedge trial at 6 VAMCs to increase the rate of timely, guideline-concordant diagnosis and treatment of OSA among Veterans with ischemic stroke/TIA and thereby reduce recurrent vascular events and hospital readmissions. The investigators will identify matched control sites for each ASAP implementation site to examine temporal trends in outcomes among non-intervention sites. For example, the investigators will use administrative data to examine the use of polysomnography across stroke/TIA patients in the VA system and compare changes in matched controls versus the intervention sites on the diagnostic rate. The same adjustment approach will be used for ASAP intervention sites and for control sites.

Official Title
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Addressing Sleep Apnea Post-Stroke (ASAP)

Conditions
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Ischemic Stroke, Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA), Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: ASAP Intervention Quality Improvement Protocol


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: As recruitment was at the facility-level, an ASAP a VAMCS had to have >50 stroke/TIA admissions per year and have at least 1.0 FTE staff dedicated to systems redesign The sites were chosen because they are diverse in terms of geography and sleep infrastructure Local site investigators and their care teams will identify patients eligible for the QI intervention, specifically patients with ischemic stroke/TIA without a prior diagnosis of OSA Exclusion Criteria: VAMCs were excluded if they had <=50 stroke/TIA admissions per year and did not have at least 1.0 FTE staff dedicated to systems redesign Local site investigators and their care teams will prioritize the protection of patients from harm and use their clinical expertise in identifying patients who would not be candidates for PAP therapy e.g., palliative care/hospice, inability to use PAP therapy [e.g., orofacial injury], or contraindication to PAP [e.g., inability to clear secretions]

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: Health Services Research
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Sequential Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Active implementation - Wave 1 (First and Second Sites)<br>This four-year stepped-wedge evaluation includes a total of 6 sites. Active implementation is initiated in 3 waves, each of which includes 2 sites. The project involves two phases at each of the 6 sites: a variable number of 7-month data periods during baseline period (three 7-month periods for Wave 1 sites, four 7-month data periods for Wave 2 sites, five 7-month data periods for Wave 3 sites), three 7-month data periods in active implementation phase for each wave. Wave 1 and Wave 2 sites will also each have one 7-month period of sustainability. The stepped-wedge design allows for 6 mutually exclusive, 7-month data periods. The baseline data period is the time prior to the date of the baseline site visit. The active implementation data period extends 21 months after the site visit. The stepped-wedge design allows site-level estimates of proportions on six different cross-sectional samples. Investigators will have repeated information on each site. Arm 1 corresponds to Wave 1. | Other: ASAP Intervention Quality Improvement Protocol<br>* The intervention program includes: (1) a systems redesign Virtual Collaborative, and; (2) data monitoring and is designed to aid each of the 6 participating VAMCs in developing, implementing, and evaluating the implementation of an acute OSA testing and treatment protocol for ischemic stroke/TIA patients. The sites will choose a diagnostic strategy (i.e., unattended polysomnography [PSG]/home sleep test [HST], in-laboratory PSG, direct to auto-titrating [auto]-PAP) and a therapeutic strategy (i.e., in-laboratory PAP titration, auto-PAP). The intervention will employ 3 implementation strategies: (1) local adaptation; (2) external facilitation, and; (3) audit and feedback.<br>|
| Experimental: Active implementation - Wave 2 (Third and Fourth Sites)<br>This four-year stepped-wedge evaluation includes a total of 6 sites. Active implementation is initiated in 3 waves, each of which includes 2 sites. The project involves two phases at each of the 6 sites: a variable number of 7-month data periods during baseline period (three 7-month periods for Wave 1 sites, four 7-month data periods for Wave 2 sites, five 7-month data periods for Wave 3 sites), three 7-month data periods in active implementation phase for each wave. Wave 1 and Wave 2 sites will also each have one 7-month period of sustainability. The stepped-wedge design allows for 6 mutually exclusive, 7-month data periods. The baseline data period is the time prior to the date of the baseline site visit. The active implementation data period extends 21 months after the site visit. The stepped-wedge design allows site-level estimates of proportions on six different cross-sectional samples. Investigators will have repeated information on each site. Arm 2 corresponds to Wave 2. | Other: ASAP Intervention Quality Improvement Protocol<br>* The intervention program includes: (1) a systems redesign Virtual Collaborative, and; (2) data monitoring and is designed to aid each of the 6 participating VAMCs in developing, implementing, and evaluating the implementation of an acute OSA testing and treatment protocol for ischemic stroke/TIA patients. The sites will choose a diagnostic strategy (i.e., unattended polysomnography [PSG]/home sleep test [HST], in-laboratory PSG, direct to auto-titrating [auto]-PAP) and a therapeutic strategy (i.e., in-laboratory PAP titration, auto-PAP). The intervention will employ 3 implementation strategies: (1) local adaptation; (2) external facilitation, and; (3) audit and feedback.<br>|
| Experimental: Active implementation - Wave 3 (Fifth and Sixth Sites)<br>This four-year stepped-wedge evaluation includes a total of 6 sites. Active implementation is initiated in 3 waves, each of which includes 2 sites. The project involves two phases at each of the 6 sites: a variable number of 7-month data periods during baseline period (three 7-month periods for Wave 1 sites, four 7-month data periods for Wave 2 sites, five 7-month data periods for Wave 3 sites), three 7-month data periods in active implementation phase for each wave. Wave 1 and Wave 2 sites will also each have one 7-month period of sustainability. The stepped-wedge design allows for 6 mutually exclusive, 7-month data periods. The baseline data period is the time prior to the date of the baseline site visit. The active implementation data period extends 21 months after the site visit. The stepped-wedge design allows site-level estimates of proportions on six different cross-sectional samples. Investigators will have repeated information on each site. Arm 3 corresponds to Wave 3. | Other: ASAP Intervention Quality Improvement Protocol<br>* The intervention program includes: (1) a systems redesign Virtual Collaborative, and; (2) data monitoring and is designed to aid each of the 6 participating VAMCs in developing, implementing, and evaluating the implementation of an acute OSA testing and treatment protocol for ischemic stroke/TIA patients. The sites will choose a diagnostic strategy (i.e., unattended polysomnography [PSG]/home sleep test [HST], in-laboratory PSG, direct to auto-titrating [auto]-PAP) and a therapeutic strategy (i.e., in-laboratory PAP titration, auto-PAP). The intervention will employ 3 implementation strategies: (1) local adaptation; (2) external facilitation, and; (3) audit and feedback.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Facility-level OSA diagnostic rate | PSG completion or initiation of auto-PAP within 30 days of presentation for the index stroke or TIA | 30-day | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Facility-level treatment rate | PAP initiation within 30 days of presentation to the facility. For this outcome, the denominator will be patients diagnosed with OSA. Patients with a prior diagnosis of sleep apnea and those who die within 7 days of presentation will be excluded. Because the denominator in this secondary effectiveness measure includes the patients who are diagnosed with OSA, it is variable and depends on the primary effectiveness outcome of diagnostic rate. | 30-day | 
| Facility-level recurrent vascular event rate | Stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), acute coronary syndrome (ACS), hospitalization for congestive heart failure (CHF), and all-cause mortality. The recurrent vascular event rate is measured from the day of presentation (e.g., to the Emergency Department) which may be the same as or prior to the day of admission. | 90-day | 
| Facility-level all-cause readmission rate | Includes an inpatient admission for any cause at either a VA or non-VA acute care facility. | 90-day | 
| Facility-level treatment rate (Positive airway pressure and non-positive airway pressure treatments) | PAP or non-PAP treatment initiation within 30 days of presentation to the facility. For this outcome, the denominator will be patients diagnosed with OSA. Patients with a prior diagnosis of sleep apnea and those who die within 7 days of presentation will be excluded. Because the denominator in this secondary effectiveness measure includes the patients who are diagnosed with OSA, it is variable and depends on the primary effectiveness outcome of diagnostic rate. | 30-day | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Ischemic stroke, Transient ischemic attack (TIA), Stepped-wedge trial, Implementation Science, Hybrid Type I, Quality Improvement, Systems Redesign, Champion, External Facilitation, Audit and feedback, Local Adaptation, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Polysomnography, Sustainability, Business-case