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Completed

NCT Number: NCT05869656

THIRST Alert Trial

The aim of this feasibility study is to determine whether an alert embedded within the electronic health record (EHR) causes clinicians to enrol patients into a randomised controlled trial (RCT) comparing oral fluid restriction versus no restriction in patients admitted to hospital with fluid overload.

One of the main causes of fluid overload is heart failure where there is a lack of strong evidence to support the effectiveness of oral fluid restriction in the acute setting. This causes significant variation in clinical practice where decisions on whether or not to impose a restriction in oral fluid intake is based on the preference of the treating clinician rather than robust evidence from research.

THIRST Alert is a pragmatic randomised controlled trial (RCT), embedded in the EHR, which seeks to determine whether a computerised alert for the clinical team can change clinician behaviour during routine NHS care at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH).

Patients with suspected fluid overload will be identified based on the prescription of intravenous furosemide, a medication used to stimulate diuresis (increased urine output) to remove excess fluid. A repeat prescription of intravenous furosemide within the first 48 hours of an unplanned admission will trigger the alert.

A clinician from the treating team will then be asked to consider enrolling the patient into the RCT if they judge that oral fluid restriction might be beneficial but they have uncertainty about this (clinical equipoise). Enrolled patients will be randomised to either oral fluid restriction of 1 litre per day or no fluid restriction. This will then be actioned through documenting as part of the clinical plan in the patients record and then communicated to the patient and the rest of the clinical team, including nursing staff.

The study will record the number of patients recruited into the trial and the effect of the alert on enrolled patients' subsequent oral fluid intake. There are no additional tests or follow up for patients and the trial finishes on discharge from the study site. All trial outcomes will use data collected from routine care and the study is supported by the UCLH Biomedical Research Centre, funded by NIHR.

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Key information

Conditions

Fluid Overload Cardiovascular Diseases Congestive Heart Failure Edema Heart Diseases Heart Failure Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Signs and Symptoms

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University College Hospital

London, NW1 2BU, United Kingdom

About this study

Trial Design:

A single centre, pragmatic, parallel group randomised controlled trial and feasibility study. The study will be conducted entirely within University College Hospital, at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Research Hypothesis:

Clinician-facing alerts, delivered through the electronic health records system, provide a feasible method of enrolling patients into pragmatic trials evaluating the effectiveness of routine treatments

Clinical Research question:

In hospitalised patients with fluid overload, does an automated clinician-facing computerised decision support system (CDSS) alert recommendation for either oral fluid restriction (to 1L per day) or no-fluid restriction (continue with free fluids) result in a change in clinical behaviour and change in the oral fluid intake of enrolled patients?

Study participants:

The study population will be patients treated for suspected fluid overload with a regular prescription of intravenous (IV) furosemide within 48 hours of an unplanned hospital admission.

For staff participants, any clinician with prescribing rights for IV furosemide may be exposed to the CDSS alert. For subsequent medical staff, nursing staff and other allied health professionals, patient enrolment into the trial and their treatment allocation status will be communicated through both EHR and clinical processes that are embedded within routine care, including verbal and non-digital patient handover.

Summary of Interventions:

This study will evaluate the effect of a Best practice advisory (BPA) interruptive alert that is embedded within the electronic health record (EHR) used at the study site. The first BPA will ask the treating clinician whether they judge randomisation to either oral fluid restriction or no restriction is appropriate - if yes is selected, randomised allocation to one of two subsequent alerts will occur at the point of care. This intervention will be tested in silico prior to deployment to the live EHR.

Ethics:

This study protocol was approved by the London Riverside Research Ethics Committee (Ref: 22/LO/0889) and sponsored by University College London (Ref: 151938).

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Prescribed IV furosemide during the first 48h of their admission as a regular prescription rather than a one-off dose.
  • Assessed as being suitable for inclusion in the trial by the responsible clinical team i.e., fluid restriction deemed to be in equipoise.

Exclusion criteria

  • On a surgical, obstetric or critical care ward environment
  • Patients who opt out of study

Treatment and study plan

Fluid restriction

Behavioral

Oral fluid restriction of 1000ml per day

Free fluids

Behavioral

Continue care without any oral fluid restriction

Primary outcomes

  1. Number of patients recruited into the trial

    Time frame: 3 months

    The number of patients in which the usual care team thought there was equipoise for oral fluid restriction

  2. Difference in oral fluid intake between intervention and control arms

    Time frame: 48 hours after randomisation

    Difference in documented oral intake (ml)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Adherence to randomised alert recommendation

    Time frame: During trial recruitment window (up to day 2)

    Proportion of alerts actioned with corresponding clinical documentation

  2. Proportion of alerts with clinical orders for nursing staff

    Time frame: During trial recruitment window (up to day 2)

    Corresponding documentation of nursing receipt of treatment allocation

  3. Oral fluid intake

    Time frame: From date of randomisation until date of hospital discharge, assessed up to 120 days after trial start date

    Documented oral fluid intake (ml)

  4. Net fluid balance

    Time frame: From date of randomisation until date of hospital discharge, assessed up to 120 days after trial start date

    Documented overall fluid balance (ml)

  5. Weight change after randomisation

    Time frame: 48 hours after randomisation

    Weight (kg)

  6. Length of stay

    Time frame: From day of admission to day of discharge, assessed up to 120 days after trial start date

    Number of Days

  7. Frequency of blood test measurements of renal function

    Time frame: From date of randomisation until date of hospital discharge, assessed up to 120 days after trial start date

    Number of times blood tests are measured

  8. Prescription of Diuretic medications

    Time frame: From date of randomisation until date of hospital discharge, assessed up to 120 days after trial start date

    Dose and duration of intravenous and oral diuretics

  9. Daily change in creatinine

    Time frame: From 48 hours after randomisation until date of hospital discharge, assessed up to 120 days after trial start date

    48 hours after randomisation

  10. Patient reported outcome measure

    Time frame: From date of randomisation until date of hospital discharge, assessed up to 120 days after trial start date

    Visual analog scale (1-10) of wellbeing, thirst perception and breathlessness

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University College, London

Other

Collaborators

  • National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) UCLH Biomedical Research Centre
  • University College London Hospitals

Registry information

Official study title

THIRST Alert Trial - a Randomised Controlled Trial Within the Electronic Health Record of an Interruptive Alert Displaying a Fluid Restriction Suggestion in Patients With the Treatable Trait of Congestion

Acronym: THIRST

Important dates

Study start
2023
Primary completion
2023
Study completion
2023
First posted
May 22, 2023
Registry last updated
Feb 6, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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