Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
medicine
A knowledge translation collaborative to improve the use of therapeutic hypothermia in post-cardiac arrest patients: Protocol for a stepped wedge randomized trial
Implementation Science, Volume 6, No. 1, Article 4, Year 2011
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
Background: Advances in resuscitation science have dramatically improved survival rates following cardiac arrest. However, about 60% of adults that regain spontaneous circulation die before leaving the hospital. Recently it has been shown that inducing hypothermia in cardiac arrest survivors immediately following their arrival in hospital can dramatically improve both overall survival and neurological outcomes. Despite the strong evidence for its efficacy and the apparent simplicity of this intervention, recent surveys show that therapeutic hypothermia is delivered inconsistently, incompletely, and often with delay.Methods and design: This study will evaluate a multi-faceted knowledge translation strategy designed to increase the utilization rate of induced hypothermia in survivors of cardiac arrest across a network of 37 hospitals in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The study is designed as a stepped wedge randomized trial lasting two years. Individual hospitals will be randomly assigned to four different wedges that will receive the active knowledge translation strategy according to a sequential rollout over a number of time periods. By the end of the study, all hospitals will have received the intervention. The primary aim is to measure the effectiveness of a multifaceted knowledge translation plan involving education, reminders, and audit-feedback for improving the use of induced hypothermia in survivors of cardiac arrest presenting to the emergency department. The primary outcome is the proportion of eligible OHCA patients that are cooled to a body temperature of 32 to 34°C within six hours of arrival in the hospital. Secondary outcomes will include process of care measures and clinical outcomes.Discussion: Inducing hypothermia in cardiac arrest survivors immediately following their arrival to hospital has been shown to dramatically improve both overall survival and neurological outcomes. However, this lifesaving treatment is frequently not applied in practice. If this trial is positive, our results will have broad implications by showing that a knowledge translation strategy shared across a collaborative network of hospitals can increase the number of patients that receive this lifesaving intervention in a timely manner.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Trial Identifier: NCT00683683. © 2011 Dainty et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
Authors & Co-Authors
Scales, Damon C.
Canada, Toronto
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Needham, Dale M.
United States, Baltimore
Johns Hopkins University
Dorian, Paul
Canada, Toronto
University of Toronto
Ferguson, Niall D.
Canada, Toronto
Mount Sinai Hospital of University of Toronto
Canada, Toronto
University of Toronto
Rubenfeld, Gordon David
Canada, Toronto
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Zwarenstein, Merrick F.
Canada, Toronto
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Thorpe, Kevin E.
Canada, Toronto
Li ka Shing Knowledge Institute
Statistics
Citations: 30
Authors: 7
Affiliations: 6
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1186/1748-5908-6-4
ISSN:
17485908
Research Areas
Health System And Policy
Noncommunicable Diseases
Study Design
Randomised Control Trial
Cross Sectional Study