Clinical trial NCT02697513: The 'Bekele Afessa Scan-Teach-Treat Approach'
Official title: The 'Bekele Afessa Scan-Teach-Treat Approach' to Improve Care of Patients With Acute Infection at the Gitwe Hospital in Gitwe/Rwanda
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Infection
Sepsis
Lead sponsor: University of Salzburg
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Gitwe Hospital and Gitwe School of Medicine
name: Mayo Clinic
name: Surviving Sepsis Campaign
name: University of Nebraska Medical
First posted: 2016-03-03
Enrollment: 1594
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 4
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Infection and sepsis are among the leading causes of death worldwide, particularly in middle- and low-income countries.The Surviving Sepsis Campaign has launched an initiative to improve sepsis care in resource-limited settings by employing the 'Scan-Teach-Treat' Approach. In this prospective before-after study, three interventions will be performed: First four months period: collection of baseline data on the clinical management of patients with acute infection. Second four months period: During the first days, a 1.5-day focused training program will be performed (participants: health care workers of primary care facilities within the catchment area of the Gitwe hospital and health care workers of the Gitwe hospital). Then, a simple management protocol to care for patients with an acute infection will be implemented into clinical practice. During the third four months period, a 'Sepsis First Aid' kit containing essential resources to treat patients with an acute infection (antimicrobials, fluids, data documentation sheet) will be distributed to primary care facilities and the emergency department of the Gitwe hospital. During the 8 months following the focused training program (periods 2 and 3), data collection will continue. It is hypothesized that implementation of a simple clinical management protocol and exposure of health care workers in the Gitwe Hospital area to a focused training program on the management of acute infections will increase the rate of evidence-based interventions performed in patients with an acute infection during the first six hours after hospital admission (administration of oxygen and fluids whenever indicated, timely administration of antimicrobial drugs, source control measures).

Detailed description: Infection and sepsis are among the leading causes of death worldwide. The annual burden of infectious diseases is particularly high in middle- and low-income countries. The Surviving Sepsis Campaign released guidelines for severe sepsis and septic shock management, whose implementation improved sepsis outcomes. Despite these benefits, the Surviving Sepsis Campaign cannot be implemented in middle- or low-income countries due to lack of training and resources. This leaves those clinicians caring for the worldwide majority of patients suffering from acute infection without standardized and adoptable guidance for sepsis. The Surviving Sepsis Campaign has launched an initiative to improve sepsis care in resource-limited settings by employing the 'Scan-Teach-Treat' Approach. This approach consists of the following three steps: Step 1 - scanning the region of interest for key elements of regional epidemiology of acute infectious diseases as well as elements of the teach and treat module; Step 2 - implementing a focused training program on the management of acute infectious diseases; Step 3 - implementing a 'Sepsis First Aid kit' into clinical practice.

In this prospective before-after study, this approach will be piloted at the Gitwe Distict Hospital in Gitwe, rural Rwanda. During three four month periods, three interventions are planned: First four months period: collection of baseline data on the clinical management of patients with acute infection. Second four months period: During the first days, a 1.5-day focused training program will be performed (participants: health care workers of primary care facilities within the catchment area of the Gitwe hospital and health care workers of the Gitwe hospital). Then, a simple management protocol to care for patients with an acute infection will be implemented into clinical practice. During the third four months period, a 'Sepsis First Aid' kit containing essential resources to treat patients with an acute infection (antimicrobials, fluids, data documentation sheet) will be distributed to primary care facilities and the emergency department of the Gitwe hospital. During the 8 months following the focused training program (periods 2 and 3), data collection will continue. It is hypothesized that implementation of a simple clinical management protocol and exposure of health care workers in the Gitwe Hospital area to a focused training program on the management of acute infections will increase the rate of evidence-based interventions performed in patients with an acute infection during the first six hours after hospital admission (administration of oxygen and fluids whenever indicated, timely administration of antimicrobial drugs, source control measures). In addition to the main analysis, study endpoints will be analyzed separately for the following á priori defined sub-groups: children (\<15 years); patients with malaria; patients positive for HIV; patients referred to from primary health care centers.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

all patients admitted to Gitwe Hospital because of a suspected or confirmed acute infectious disease

Exclusion Criteria:

* age \<28 days of life
* known allergy to any study-related drug
* limited therapy due to terminal disease
* refusal of written informed consent

Primary outcomes:
measure: Rate of evidence-based interventions performed in study patients during six hours after hospital admission before and after the focused training program and implementation of the clinical management protocol.
timeFrame: Six hours after hospital admission
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Prevalence of sepsis
timeFrame: 72 hours after hospital admission
measure: Hospital mortality
timeFrame: 28 days after hospital admission or at hospital discharge
measure: Time to initiation of evidence-based interventions after Hospital admission
timeFrame: Six hours after hospital admission
measure: Rate of evidence-based interventions initiated before hospital admission in study patients referred to from regional dispensaries
timeFrame: baseline
measure: Rate of pre-defined adverse events
timeFrame: Twenty-four hours after hospital admission
measure: Rate of evidence-based interventions performed during the first 6 hours after hospital admission before and after the implementation of a 'Sepsis First Aid' kit
timeFrame: Six hours after hospital admission
measure: Rate of correct answers of a test on knowledge about acute infectious diseases before and after the focused educational training
timeFrame: 1 hour before and 1 hour after the focused educational training course
Other outcomes:
Locations:
Study officials:
affiliation: Mayo Clinic
name: Chris Farmer, MD
role: STUDY_CHAIR
References:
citation: Urayeneza O, Mujyarugamba P, Rukemba Z, Nyiringabo V, Ntihinyurwa P, Baelani JI, Kwizera A, Bagenda D, Mer M, Musa N, Hoffman JT, Mudgapalli A, Porter AM, Kissoon N, Ulmer H, Harmon LA, Farmer JC, Dunser MW, Patterson AJ; Sepsis in Resource-Limited Nations Workgroup of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign. Increasing Evidence-Based Interventions in Patients with Acute Infections in a Resource-Limited Setting: A Before-and-After Feasibility Trial in Gitwe, Rwanda. Crit Care Med. 2018 Aug;46(8):1357-1366. doi: 10.1097/CCM.0000000000003227.
citation: Urayeneza O, Mujyarugamba P, Rukemba Z, Nyiringabo V, Ntihinyurwa P, Baelani JI, Kwizera A, Bagenda D, Mer M, Musa N, Hoffman JT, Mudgapalli A, Porter AM, Kissoon N, Ulmer H, Harmon LA, Farmer JC, Dunser MW, Patterson AJ; Sepsis in Resource-Limited Nations Workgroup of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign. Increasing evidence-based interventions in patients with acute infections in a resource-limited setting: a before-and-after feasibility trial in Gitwe, Rwanda. Intensive Care Med. 2018 Sep;44(9):1436-1446. doi: 10.1007/s00134-018-5266-x. Epub 2018 Jun 28.