Clinical Effectiveness of the "PICU Up!" Multifaceted Early Mobility Intervention for Critically Ill Children

NCT ID: NCT04989790

Last Updated: 2025-08-17

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 1440 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-08-08
• Study Completion Date: 2026-03-31

Brief Summary

While mortality in U.S. pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) is improving, surviving children frequently develop persistent physical, cognitive, and psychological impairments. Over half of critically ill children experience potentially preventable PICU-acquired morbidities, with mechanically ventilated children being at greatest risk. In critically ill adults, randomized trials have shown that progressive mobility, started early (within 3 days of initiating mechanical ventilation), decreases muscle weakness and the duration of mechanical ventilation. However, similar randomized studies have not been conducted in the PICU. The investigator's prior studies revealed that less than 10 percent of critically ill children at the highest risk of functional decline are evaluated by a physical or occupational therapist within 3 days of PICU admission. Given the interplay of sedation, delirium, sleep, and immobility in the PICU, single-component interventions, such as sedation protocolization, have not consistently shown benefit for decreasing mechanical ventilation duration. Thus, the investigators developed the first pediatric-specific, interprofessional intervention (PICU Up!) to integrate goal-directed sedation, delirium prevention, sleep promotion, and family engagement into daily PICU care in order to facilitate early and progressive mobility. The investigators have demonstrated the safety and feasibility of this pragmatic, multifaceted strategy in both single-site and multicenter pilot studies. Hence, the next phase of the investigators research is to evaluate the clinical effectiveness and delivery of the PICU Up! intervention across a range of PICU patients and health systems. The investigators propose a pragmatic, stepped-wedge, cluster randomized controlled trial that will include 10 academic and community hospitals in the United States, with the following Aims: 1) Evaluate if the PICU Up! intervention, delivered under real-world conditions, decreases mechanical ventilation duration (primary outcome) and improves delirium and functional status compared to usual care in critically ill children; and 2) Conduct a multi-stakeholder, mixed-methods process evaluation to identify key contextual factors associated with delivery of PICU Up!. If proven effective, the PICU Up! intervention has potential to profoundly change medical care in the PICU and substantially impact public health by improving outcomes for the growing number of pediatric survivors of critical illness.

Conditions

Child; Intensive Care Unit Acquired Weakness; Critical Illness; Hospital Acquired Pressure Ulcer

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: SEQUENTIAL
• Primary Study Purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Baseline/Pre-implementation

Usual PICU care

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Intervention/Post-implementation

PICU Up! is a multifaceted, inter-professional pathway that is integrated into routine PICU practice to safely optimize early and progressive patient mobility.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

PICU Up!

Intervention Type: OTHER

PICU Up! incorporates the screening process for determining a patient's appropriate activity level into the daily rounding workflow for all PICU patients, with a tiered activity plan based on clinical parameters to individualize goals based on each child's unique needs. While the patient's PICU Up! level is based on objective criteria, the interprofessional team collectively determines the daily activity goal(s) through shared decision-making which is documented in the medical record on morning rounds. The intervention facilitates daily discussion of 1) analgesia; 2) extubation readiness testing; 3) sedation level and goal; 4) delirium screening and management; 5) mobility goal including physical and occupational therapy consultation by PICU Day 3; 6) sleep promotion; and 7) family engagement in mobility.

Interventions

PICU Up!

PICU Up! incorporates the screening process for determining a patient's appropriate activity level into the daily rounding workflow for all PICU patients, with a tiered activity plan based on clinical parameters to individualize goals based on each child's unique needs. While the patient's PICU Up! level is based on objective criteria, the interprofessional team collectively determines the daily activity goal(s) through shared decision-making which is documented in the medical record on morning rounds. The intervention facilitates daily discussion of 1) analgesia; 2) extubation readiness testing; 3) sedation level and goal; 4) delirium screening and management; 5) mobility goal including physical and occupational therapy consultation by PICU Day 3; 6) sleep promotion; and 7) family engagement in mobility.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Invasive mechanical ventilation via oral or nasal endotracheal tube ≥ 48 hours at 7 a.m. on PICU Day 3

Exclusion Criteria

• Active or anticipated withdrawal of life support within 48 hours
• Open chest or open abdomen
• Current use of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO)

• Maximum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Johns Hopkins University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Sapna Kudchadkar, MD, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Johns Hopkins University

Locations

Valley Children's Hospital

Madera, California, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Nemours Children's Hospital of the Nemours Foundation

Orlando, Florida, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Norton Children's Hospital: University of Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Johns Hopkins Hospital

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Site Status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING

Hennepin Healthcare: University of Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Children's Hospital at Dartmouth: Geisel School of Medicine

Lebanon, New Hampshire, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

UNC Children's: University of North Carolina

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Janet Weis Children's Hospital: Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Danville, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Texas Children's Hospital: Baylor College of Medicine

Houston, Texas, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

West Virginia University Medicine Children's: West Virginia University

Morgantown, West Virginia, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Children's Hospital of Wisconsin: Medical College of Wisconsin

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

United States

Central Contacts

Sapna R Kudchadkar, MD, PhD

Role: CONTACT

sapna@jhmi.edu

410-955-6412

Colleen Mennie, RN

Role: CONTACT

cmennie1@jhmi.edu

410-955-6412

Facility Contacts

Molly Dorfman, MD

Role: primary

Mashael Alqahtani, MBBS, MS

Role: primary

John Berkenbosch, MD

Role: primary

Andrew Kiragu, MD

Role: primary

Kelly Corbett, MD

Role: primary

Tracie Walker, MD

Role: primary

Justin Azar, MD

Role: primary

Matthew Musick, MD

Role: primary

Mel Wright, DO

Role: primary

Charles Rothschild, MD

Role: primary

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Related Links

https://reporter.nih.gov/search/-TyQWv1coE2q0PsxZLOP-Q/project-details/10097465

NIH Reporter Record of PICU Up! Trial

Other Identifiers

R01HD103811

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

IRB00297110

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id