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COMPLETED NA

Time Limited Trials to Reduce Non-Beneficial Intensive Care Unit Treatments

NCT04181294 · View on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Study Summary

Overutilization of intensive care unit (ICU) treatments among patients with advanced medical illnesses and poor prognosis places them at risk for prolonged suffering with minimal anticipated benefit. Improving communication and shared decision-making between providers and patients/family members represents an opportunity to reduce potentially non-beneficial treatments. Time limited trials (TLTs) are agreements between clinicians and patients/surrogate decision-makers to use medical therapies over a defined period of time to observe if patients improve or deteriorate according to agreed-upon clinical outcomes. The objective of this project is to examine whether a quality improvement intervention that uses protocoled time limited trials as the default ICU communication/care planning strategy for patients with advanced medical illnesses will decrease the duration and intensity of non-beneficial ICU treatments without changing hospital mortality.

Interventions

  • BEHAVIORAL Family meetings using time limited trials as default ICU communication and care planning approach
  • BEHAVIORAL Usual practice

Study Locations (3)

California

  • Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center — Los Angeles
  • Olive View Medical Center — Sylmar
  • Harbor UCLA Medical Center — Torrance

Trial Details

FieldValue
Enrollment Target 209 participants
Start Date 2017-08-01
Est. Completion 2019-12-31
Phase NA

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Full Details on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

What the Registry Record Tells You About NCT04181294

The ClinicalTrials.gov registry entry for NCT04181294 describes a study currently listed as completed. It is categorized as NA, which is the standard way researchers label where a study sits along the investigational pathway from early safety work through later efficacy and post-marketing evaluation. The registered enrollment target is 209 participants, a figure that helps gauge the scale of data the investigators plan to collect. The listed sponsor is Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, which has 15 total studies on file at ClinicalTrials.gov, and sponsors are the parties responsible for study design, oversight, and regulatory filings.

The record links to 2 conditions, with Critical Illness appearing as the primary indexed condition, and to 2 interventions — of which Family meetings using time limited trials as default ICU communication and care planning approach is the first listed. Interventions can include drugs, devices, procedures, behavioral programs, or observational arms, and each is tracked as a separate registry field so that downstream queries can filter accurately. When a trial lists multiple interventions, it usually reflects a multi-arm design or a comparison protocol rather than a single treatment being tested in isolation. The brief summary published in the registry is the clearest source of protocol intent and should be read before drawing conclusions from any sidebar tags.

Geographic footprint matters for practical reasons: NCT04181294 reports 3 study locations spanning 1 distinct geographic area — top geographies include California. A larger site network tends to correlate with broader recruitment capacity, but it does not imply anything about study quality, and site-level enrollment status can diverge from the overall registry status shown above. Every data point on this page comes from the public ClinicalTrials.gov dataset and is reproduced here for reference only; it is not a medical recommendation, an endorsement of the sponsor, or an invitation to enroll. Verify current status, eligibility criteria, and contact details directly at ClinicalTrials.gov, and discuss any participation decision with your own healthcare provider.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is clinical trial NCT04181294 about?

NCT04181294 is a clinical study titled "Time Limited Trials to Reduce Non-Beneficial Intensive Care Unit Treatments". Overutilization of intensive care unit (ICU) treatments among patients with advanced medical illnesses and poor prognosis places them at risk for prolonged suffering with minimal anticipated benefit. Improving communication and shared decision-making between providers and patients/family members rep...

What is the current status of trial NCT04181294?

This trial is currently completed. It is a NA study. The enrollment target is 209 participants. The study started on 2017-08-01. Estimated completion is 2019-12-31.

What conditions does trial NCT04181294 study?

This clinical trial studies the following conditions: Critical Illness, Communication. These conditions were identified from the trial registry and reflect the primary focus areas of the research.

What interventions are being tested in trial NCT04181294?

The interventions under investigation include: Family meetings using time limited trials as default ICU communication and care planning approach (BEHAVIORAL), Usual practice (BEHAVIORAL). Each intervention is being evaluated for safety and efficacy as part of this clinical study.

Who is sponsoring clinical trial NCT04181294?

This trial is sponsored by Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, which has 15 total clinical trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. The sponsor is responsible for the study's design, funding, and regulatory compliance.

Where is trial NCT04181294 being conducted?

This trial has 3 study locations across California. Contact the study sites directly through ClinicalTrials.gov for enrollment availability.

Related

Data sourced from official U.S. government datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainTrial Editorial