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Tele-Health Electronic Monitoring to Reduce Post Discharge Complications and Surgical Site Infections

Tele-Health Electronic Monitoring to Reduce Post Discharge Complications and Surgical Site Infections Following Arterial Revascularization With Groin Incision

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02767011
Acronym
THEM
Enrollment
30
Registered
2016-05-10
Start date
2016-07-01
Completion date
2017-07-01
Last updated
2026-09-09

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Peripheral Vascular Disease

Keywords

surgical site infection

Brief summary

Abstract: It is intuitive that post discharge surgical complications are associated with increased patient dissatisfaction, and directly associated with an increase in medical expenditures. It is also easy to make the connection that many post hospital discharge surgical complications including surgical site infections could be influenced or exacerbated by patient co-morbidities. The authors of a recent study reported that female gender, obesity, diabetes, smoking, hypertension, coronary artery disease, critical limb ischemia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dyspnea, and neurologic disease were all of among significant predictors of surgical site infections after vascular reconstruction was performed. The main concern for optimal patient care especially in geographically isolated areas of West Virginia is to have early, expeditious, and prompt diagnosis of early surgical site infection with subsequent indicated interventions. This theme will lead to patient satisfaction, minimizing third party interventions and decrease the total cost associated with these complications. Nevertheless, it seems reasonable to believe that monitoring using telehealth technology and managing the general health care patients receive after a hospital vascular intervention will improve overall health and reduce post-operative complications. Aims/Objectives: 1\. The primary objective of the current project is to compare early and late outcomes for patients who receive post discharge health care monitoring (which includes using Telehealth electronic monitoring; THEM) to patients who receive standard of care (SOC) and routine discharge instructions and no monitoring. Methods: 1. Randomize patients who are scheduled to have revascularization interventions with groin incisions to receive either telehealth electronic health care monitoring or normal standard of follow-up care. 2. Follow patients for 4 weeks, record any 30-day hospital readmissions or complications. In addition, have participants complete the follow-up survey questionnaires.

Interventions

OTHERTele-Health Electronic Monitoring (THEM)

Patients in the intervention group (THEM) will receive a tablet computer and home monitoring medical devices with sensors to transmit the information to a central website that will be monitored by care managers. Medical devices will include weight scales, blood pressure cuffs and blood glucometers. Clinical care mangers will remotely monitor the patients and all electronic readings. Clinical care managers will call or send text messages to the patients based on alerts generated by the tele-health monitoring system.

Sponsors

CAMC Health System
Lead SponsorOTHER
WVCTSI
CollaboratorUNKNOWN

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 100 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

1\. Patients with any planned vascular procedures with cut-down access to the groin and treated by one of the Charleston Area Medical Center -Vascular Surgeons in the Vascular Center (VCOE) will be consented and enrolled.

Exclusion criteria

1. do not plan to do follow-up visit at the VCOE; 2. history of dementia; 3. do not have home internet service with WIFI or live outside of the provided cell coverage area (cell coverage will be provided for patients without internet WIFI).

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Access Site/Wound Infections.30-dayYes/No did patient any access site or would infections? Access site wounds for the patients were monitored for 30 days for any wound infections.
30-Day Readmission (Any)30-dayYes/No was patient readmitted? Patients were monitored for 30 days to see if they were re-admitted to the hospital for any reason. Percentage of patients with 30-day readmission.
30-day Wound Readmission30-dayYes/No was patient readmitted for wound infection? Patients were monitored for 30 days to see if they were re-admitted to the hospital for wound infection. Percentage of patients with 30-day readmission for wound infection.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
The Difference Between Baseline and 30-day Quality of Life (Short-Form 8) Physical Summary Score30-dayThe Difference between baseline and 30-day quality of life (Short-Form 8) Physical summary T-scores. The short-form (SF-8) Health Survey is an 8-item survey designed to measure quality of life. The SF-8 has 8 questions that first measures eight ordinal items (i.e., 1-5 Likert scale): general health, physical health functioning, role physical, bodily pain, vitality, social functioning, mental health and emotional roles. Summing the responses of the 8 items can be used to report an overall measure of physical and mental functioning. The raw Likert scale scores are converted to normalized standard T scores with a mean of 50 and standard deviation of 10. Measuring physical and mental health both before and after an intervention, as continuous summary scores can indicate better self-reported quality of life with higher scores. A difference score of 0 would indicate no change, while a larger positive difference score would indicate an increase in self-reported quality of life.
Patient Satisfaction as Measured by the General Satisfaction Sub-scale of the Short-Form Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ18)30-dayPatients' satisfaction was compared using the General Satisfaction sub-scale of the Short-Form Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ18). The PSQ-18 contains 18 items (questions) that can measure seven dimensions of satisfaction: general satisfaction, technical quality, interpersonal manner, communication, financial aspects, time spent with doctor, and accessibility and convenience. Responses to the PSQ-18 require a selection on a Likert scale from 1 Strongly Agree to 5 Strongly Disagree with some of the questions worded in such a manner that agreement reflects greater satisfaction (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 11, 15 \& 18). These responses were "re-coded" in order for a larger number to reflect greater satisfaction. Next, two individual items (3 and 17) are summed and averaged to produce the general satisfaction sub-scale. A larger number reflects greater satisfaction, with a range of 1 to 5.
Number of Participants With Home Nursing Visits30-dayYes/No did the patient have (any) home nursing visits during the 30-day follow-up period.
Stroke30-dayYes/No did patient have a stroke. Patients were monitored for 30 days for stroke.
Myocardial Infarction30-dayYes/No did patient have myocardial infarction. Patients were monitored for 30 days for myocardial infarction.
Death30-dayYes/No Did patient die? Patients for monitored for 30 days for death.

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
THEM
Intervention Group. Received Tele-health monitoring
16
Control
Control Group (received standard of care)
14
Total30

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicTHEMControlTotal
Age, Continuous62.5 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 7.2
65.7 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 7.3
64.0 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 7.3
BMI27.7 kg/m^2
STANDARD_DEVIATION 4.3
29.1 kg/m^2
STANDARD_DEVIATION 7.1
28.3 kg/m^2
STANDARD_DEVIATION 5.7
Race (NIH/OMB)
American Indian or Alaska Native
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Asian
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Black or African American
0 Participants1 Participants1 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
More than one race
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
White
16 Participants13 Participants29 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
6 Participants8 Participants14 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
10 Participants6 Participants16 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 160 / 14
other
Total, other adverse events
0 / 160 / 14
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 160 / 14

Outcome results

Primary

30-Day Readmission (Any)

Yes/No was patient readmitted? Patients were monitored for 30 days to see if they were re-admitted to the hospital for any reason. Percentage of patients with 30-day readmission.

Time frame: 30-day

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
THEM30-Day Readmission (Any)4 Participants
Control30-Day Readmission (Any)2 Participants
Primary

30-day Wound Readmission

Yes/No was patient readmitted for wound infection? Patients were monitored for 30 days to see if they were re-admitted to the hospital for wound infection. Percentage of patients with 30-day readmission for wound infection.

Time frame: 30-day

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
THEM30-day Wound Readmission1 Participants
Control30-day Wound Readmission1 Participants
Primary

Access Site/Wound Infections.

Yes/No did patient any access site or would infections? Access site wounds for the patients were monitored for 30 days for any wound infections.

Time frame: 30-day

Population: Percentage of patients with access site infections.

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
THEMAccess Site/Wound Infections.5 Participants
ControlAccess Site/Wound Infections.1 Participants
Secondary

Death

Yes/No Did patient die? Patients for monitored for 30 days for death.

Time frame: 30-day

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
THEMDeath0 Participants
ControlDeath0 Participants
Secondary

Myocardial Infarction

Yes/No did patient have myocardial infarction. Patients were monitored for 30 days for myocardial infarction.

Time frame: 30-day

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
THEMMyocardial Infarction0 Participants
ControlMyocardial Infarction0 Participants
Secondary

Number of Participants With Home Nursing Visits

Yes/No did the patient have (any) home nursing visits during the 30-day follow-up period.

Time frame: 30-day

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
THEMNumber of Participants With Home Nursing Visits3 Participants
ControlNumber of Participants With Home Nursing Visits3 Participants
Secondary

Patient Satisfaction as Measured by the General Satisfaction Sub-scale of the Short-Form Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ18)

Patients' satisfaction was compared using the General Satisfaction sub-scale of the Short-Form Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ18). The PSQ-18 contains 18 items (questions) that can measure seven dimensions of satisfaction: general satisfaction, technical quality, interpersonal manner, communication, financial aspects, time spent with doctor, and accessibility and convenience. Responses to the PSQ-18 require a selection on a Likert scale from 1 Strongly Agree to 5 Strongly Disagree with some of the questions worded in such a manner that agreement reflects greater satisfaction (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 11, 15 & 18). These responses were re-coded in order for a larger number to reflect greater satisfaction. Next, two individual items (3 and 17) are summed and averaged to produce the general satisfaction sub-scale. A larger number reflects greater satisfaction, with a range of 1 to 5.

Time frame: 30-day

ArmMeasureValue (MEDIAN)
THEMPatient Satisfaction as Measured by the General Satisfaction Sub-scale of the Short-Form Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ18)4.0 units on a scale
ControlPatient Satisfaction as Measured by the General Satisfaction Sub-scale of the Short-Form Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ18)3.75 units on a scale
Secondary

Stroke

Yes/No did patient have a stroke. Patients were monitored for 30 days for stroke.

Time frame: 30-day

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
THEMStroke0 Participants
ControlStroke0 Participants
Secondary

The Difference Between Baseline and 30-day Quality of Life (Short-Form 8) Physical Summary Score

The Difference between baseline and 30-day quality of life (Short-Form 8) Physical summary T-scores. The short-form (SF-8) Health Survey is an 8-item survey designed to measure quality of life. The SF-8 has 8 questions that first measures eight ordinal items (i.e., 1-5 Likert scale): general health, physical health functioning, role physical, bodily pain, vitality, social functioning, mental health and emotional roles. Summing the responses of the 8 items can be used to report an overall measure of physical and mental functioning. The raw Likert scale scores are converted to normalized standard T scores with a mean of 50 and standard deviation of 10. Measuring physical and mental health both before and after an intervention, as continuous summary scores can indicate better self-reported quality of life with higher scores. A difference score of 0 would indicate no change, while a larger positive difference score would indicate an increase in self-reported quality of life.

Time frame: 30-day

ArmMeasureGroupValue (MEAN)Dispersion
THEMThe Difference Between Baseline and 30-day Quality of Life (Short-Form 8) Physical Summary ScoreBaseline Physical Summary Score27.76 T-scoresStandard Deviation 7.38
THEMThe Difference Between Baseline and 30-day Quality of Life (Short-Form 8) Physical Summary Score30-day Physical Summary Score36.83 T-scoresStandard Deviation 8.58
THEMThe Difference Between Baseline and 30-day Quality of Life (Short-Form 8) Physical Summary ScoreDifference (30-day - baseline) Summary Score9.07 T-scoresStandard Deviation 6.02
ControlThe Difference Between Baseline and 30-day Quality of Life (Short-Form 8) Physical Summary ScoreBaseline Physical Summary Score30.14 T-scoresStandard Deviation 11.28
ControlThe Difference Between Baseline and 30-day Quality of Life (Short-Form 8) Physical Summary Score30-day Physical Summary Score34.61 T-scoresStandard Deviation 10.69
ControlThe Difference Between Baseline and 30-day Quality of Life (Short-Form 8) Physical Summary ScoreDifference (30-day - baseline) Summary Score4.47 T-scoresStandard Deviation 7.63

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Sep 10, 2026