Clinical trial NCT03805646: Mobile Phone-administered Triage Tool to Followup on Discharged Trauma Patients
Official title: A Mobile Phone-based Triage Tool to Identify Discharged Trauma Patients in Need of Further Care in Cameroon
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Wounds and Injury
Keywords: Aftercare
Telemedicine
Africa South of the Sahara
Lead sponsor: University of California, Los Angeles
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: University of Buea
First posted: 2019-01-16
Enrollment: 3990
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: None of the interventional study model categories aptly describe the study. The step-wedge design of the study means each site has historical controls; the only thing determining whether an individual receives the intervention or not is time (that is, whether the hospital site s/he was admitted to happens to be in the pre-intervention/baseline data collection phase or the intervention phase).
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: After being admitted to and then discharged from a hospital in Cameroon for having experienced an injury, there is no established way for the health system to check in on how the discharged person is doing. The investigators have developed a set of questions with the hope that asking these questions--over the phone--to those who have been discharged from the hospital will allow them to determine which post-discharge patients would benefit from further care. The investigators believe that asking these questions over the phone is a good way of determining which post-discharge trauma patients would benefit from further care.

Detailed description: Broadly, this study aims to answer three questions. (1) Is it feasible to call discharged trauma patients on their mobile phones to check up on them? (2) Can a defined set of questions help determine which discharged trauma patients require further medical care (and which discharged trauma patients do not require further medical care)? (3) Will checking in on discharged trauma patients reduce their experience of disability and economic consequences?

If an individual was a trauma patient who was admitted at and then discharged from one of the study's partner hospitals in Cameroon, the discharged individual (hereafter referred to as "the participant') will be receiving phone calls from one of the study's research assistants at the following post-discharge timepoints: 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months. Whether the research assistant administers the defined set of questions developed by the study's investigators (see question 2, above) will depend on when the participant was discharged from the hospital. Regardless, all participants will be asked other important questions about the injury and any associated disabilities and economic consequences.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* All trauma registry patients at participating hospitals who provided cellphone numbers and are alive at hospital discharge are eligible for inclusion regardless of age, injury severity, or hospital disposition status.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Proportion of Successful Contacts
timeFrame: 2 weeks after enrollment
measure: Median Number of Attempts Required to Achieve a Successful Contact
timeFrame: 2 weeks after enrollment
measure: Median Cost Associated With Personnel Time
timeFrame: At the end of the study (2 weeks after the 2-year intervention phase (extended due to COVID))
measure: Median Cost Associated With Telephone Time
timeFrame: At the end of the study (2 weeks after the 2-year intervention phase (extended due to COVID))
measure: Telephone Triage Tool Administration Time
timeFrame: After administration of the telephone triage tool (i.e. about 2 weeks after enrollment)
measure: Physician Assessment of Whether a Patient Would Benefit From Further Services
timeFrame: Immediately after the physician administers the physical exam (i.e. about 3 weeks after enrollment)
measure: Physician Assessment of Whether a Patient Was at Moderate to High Risk for a Poor Outcome (HR) Without Additional Intervention
timeFrame: Immediately after the physician administers the physical exam (i.e. about 3 weeks after enrollment)
measure: Triage Risk Score (TRS)
timeFrame: At the end of intervention phase (about 1 year after enrollment).
measure: Acceptability Score of Mobile Phones as a Follow-up Tool
timeFrame: 2 weeks after enrollment
measure: Proportion of Injured Patients Who Seek Clinical Follow-up Evaluation
timeFrame: After the 2week post-discharge phonecall.
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Glasgow Outcomes Scale-Extended (GOSE) Disability Level
timeFrame: At the 2week post-discharge telephone phonecall.
measure: Economic Consequences of Injury: Did it Become More Difficult for the Family to Afford Expenses Such as Food and Rent?
timeFrame: At the 2week post-discharge telephone phonecall.
measure: Economic Consequences of Injury: Did the Family Spend Saved Money?
timeFrame: At the 2week post-discharge telephone phonecall.
measure: Economic Consequences of Injury: Did the Family Borrow Money?
timeFrame: At the 2week post-discharge telephone phonecall.
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Douala
country: Cameroon
facility: Laquintinie Hospital
city: Edea
country: Cameroon
facility: Edea Regional Hospital
city: Limbe
country: Cameroon
facility: Limbé Regional Referral Hospital
city: Pouma
country: Cameroon
facility: Pouma Catholic Hospital
Study officials:
affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles
name: Catherine Juillard, MD, MPH
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: