Post-ICU Palliative Care Intervention (PIPCI) Trial

Summary

This is a single center, pilot, randomized, single-blind, usual care controlled, pragmatic clinical trial of a post-ICU palliative care consultation intervention in older (age ≥50 years) survivors of acute respiratory failure.

Aim 1: To conduct a pilot post-ICU palliative care consultation intervention trial among frail older ICU survivors and their surrogates. Hypothesis:The Investigators can achieve an adequate enrollment rate, protocol adherence, and intervention fidelity.

Aim 2: To estimate effect sizes and variability for changes in symptoms at hospital discharge and 1 month, and to estimate hospice referral rates and acute-care readmission rates at 1 and 3 months. Hypothesis: Effect sizes and feasibility data will inform and support future post-ICU palliative care studies focused on improving ICU survivorship.

Exploratory Aim. To assess the use of methylphenidate that is recommended and dosed by the palliative care physician for the treatment of moderate-to-severe fatigue. Hypothesis: (1) Not all patients with moderate-to-severe fatigue will be recommended for methylphenidate therapy. (2) Patients prescribed methylphenidate for treatment of moderate-to-severe fatigue after critical illness will adhere to methylphenidate therapy.

Conditions

• Critical Illness
• Frailty
• Palliative Care

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Palliative Care Consultation

The palliative care consultation team will be led by one of the board-certified palliative care physicians at Columbia University Medical Center. Over one or more visits, the palliative care consultation team will first review intervention participants' medical records and baseline Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) scores. They will also directly assess participants' physical and psychological symptoms. They will provide supportive counseling, make treatment recommendations for burdensome symptoms to the primary team of physicians, and will address goals of care. They will document these activities in structured electronic medical record consultation notes.

OTHER

Usual Care

Patient-surrogate pairs randomized to usual care will not have a palliative care consultation intervention offered, and will receive care by their primary physicians. However, if a palliative care consultation is requested after randomization to usual care by the primary team of physicians and/or the patient/surrogate, it will be provided.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Aging (NIA)

  collaborator NIH

• Columbia University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Matthew R Baldwin, MD, MS · Columbia University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

50 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-03-20

Primary Completion

2019-01-23

Completion

2019-01-23

Countries

• United States

Study Locations