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Antibiotic Review Kit for Hospitals (ARK-Hospital): study protocol for a stepped wedge cluster randomized controlled trial

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posted on 2023-06-07, 08:23 authored by Ann Sarah Walker, Eric Budgell, Magda Laskawiec-Szkonter, Katy Sivyer, Sarah Wordsworth, Jack Quaddy, Marta Santillo, Adele Krusche, Laurence SJ Roope, Nicole Bright, Fiona Mowbray, Nicola Jones, Kieran Hand, Najib Rahman, Melissa Dobson, Emma Hedley, Derrick Crook, Mike Sharland, Chris Roseveare, Richard FD Hobbs, Chris Butler, Louella Vaughan, Susan Hopkins, Lucy Yardley, Timothy EA Peto, Martin LlewelynMartin Llewelyn, ARK Trials Team
Background To ensure patients continue to get early access to antibiotics at admission, safely reducing antibiotic use in hospitals needs to target the continued need for antibiotics as more diagnostic information becomes available. UK Department of Health guidance promotes an initiative called ‘Start Smart then Focus’: early effective antibiotics followed by active ‘review & revision’ 24-72 hours later. However in 2017, <10% of antibiotic prescriptions were discontinued at review, despite studies suggesting that 20-30% of prescriptions could be stopped safely. Methods/Design ARK-hospital is a complex ‘review & revise’ behavioural intervention targeting healthcare professionals involved in antibiotic prescribing or administration in inpatients admitted to acute/general medicine (the largest consumers of non-prophylactic antibiotics in hospitals). The primary study objective is to evaluate whether ARK-hospital can safely reduce total antibiotic burden in acute/general medical inpatients by at least 15%. The primary hypotheses are therefore that the introduction of the behavioural intervention will be non-inferior in terms of 30-day mortality post-admission (relative margin 5%) as an acute/general medical inpatient, and superior in terms of defined-daily-doses (DDD) of antibiotics per acute/general medical admission (co-primary outcomes). The unit of observation is a hospital organisation, a single or group of hospital(s) organised with one executive board and governance framework (NHS Trusts in England; health boards in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland). The study comprises a feasibility study in one organisation (phase I), an internal pilot trial in three organisations (phase II) and a cluster (organisation)-randomised stepped wedge trial (phase III), targeting a total of a minimum of 36 organisations. Randomisation will occur over 18 months from November 2017 with a further 12 month follow-up to assess sustainability. The behavioural intervention will be delivered to healthcare professionals involved in antibiotic prescribing or administration in adult inpatients admitted to acute/general medicine. Outcomes will be assessed in adult inpatients admitted to acute/general medicine, collected through routine electronic health records in all patients. Discussion ARK-hospital aims to provide a feasible, sustainable and generalizable mechanism for increasing antibiotic stopping in patients who no longer need to receive them at ‘review & revise’.

Funding

Antibiotic Reduction and Conservation in Hospitals (ARK-Hospital); G1924; NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH RESEARCH; RP-PG-0514-2001

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Trails

ISSN

1745-6215

Publisher

BMC

Issue

421

Volume

20

Page range

1-16

Department affiliated with

  • BSMS Publications

Research groups affiliated with

  • Brighton and Sussex Centre for Global Health Research Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2019-06-10

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2019-07-15

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2019-06-07

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