Multimorbidity Management Supported by a Digital Platform

NCT ID: NCT05593835

Last Updated: 2023-11-29

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

1380 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-06-01

Study Completion Date

2027-05-31

Brief Summary

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This study aims to assess whether the use of the METHIS digital platform using a patient-centered approach contributes to an improvement in the quality of life, mental health and physical activity of patients with multimorbidity followed up in Primary Health Care. Practices will be randomly allocated between: providing access to consultations through the METHIS platform (intervention) or following patients by the traditional method (control). They will complete questionnaires on quality of life, mental health and report the number of steps taken, at the beginning and end of the study.

Detailed Description

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A superiority, cluster randomised trial will be conducted at Primary Health Care Practices (1:1 allocation ratio). All public practices in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Region, Portugal, not involved in a previous pilot trial, will be eligible. The intervention combines a training programme and a customised Information System (METHIS). Both are designed to help clinicians to adopt a Goal-Oriented Care Model approach and to encourage patients and carers to play a more active role in autonomous healthcare.

Conditions

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Chronic Disease

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Cluster Randomised Trial
Primary Study Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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METHIS Intervention

The METHIS intervention will consist of two components. The first component is a Goal-Oriented Care (GOC) Training Program for health professionals. The training program will include the concept of personalised care, methods of goal elation, implications of GOC in healthcare practice, and how METHIS platform can be used to support the application of GOC. The training will be implemented through a blended-learning, continuous education program that will be credited by Nova University of Lisbon. The second component is a GOC information system. This will be the digital platform METHIS, which will be designed to nudge clinicians to adopt a GOC and to encourage patients and caregivers to take an active role in healthcare. The investigators will adapt an existing platform that was developed for a pilot study during the COVID-19 pandemic, that promotes care coordination, optimises disease prioritisation, and patient self-management.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

METHIS Platform

Intervention Type DEVICE

The METHIS platform is a digital healthcare platform, supported by three databases using PostreSQL (based in relational SQL). One of the databases allows adequate internal testing before production. Another database of production (secured with unique access codes) will be created to retrieve data from the practices' and the last database for the research data, where pseudonymised production data can be analysed for research purposes. The platform is integrated (via FCCN Scientific Computation Unit of the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) with the Software Zoom® to allow encrypted teleconsultations, with a guarantee that each patient connection is unique. The digital platform is web-based, and it can be used in multiple devices.

Goal-Oriented Care Training Program

Intervention Type OTHER

The training program will have three stages: initial face-to-face training, which will happen before the data collection, followed by remote, asynchronous training during a 12-month period, and a final seminar to discuss the results and inquire about the usability of the GOC model and the METHIS platform. The course will be offered to the intervention group one month before the start of patient recruitment, and for the control group at least one month after the end of data collection.

Control

The control group in this trial will be the best usual care, using the standard Electronic Health Records available to the practice. Our understanding of what "best usual care" is for people with multimorbidity is informed by qualitative research in an earlier stage of this project. Our results suggest that healthcare professionals often provide disease-driven care. When faced with multiple healthcare problems, they prioritise based on 1) patient complaints; 2) which condition is less well controlled; or 3) which condition is more likely to adversely impact on patient Health Related-Quality of life. General practitioners and primary care nurses are often not familiar with the Goal-Oriented Care model. However, they already try to implement some of its principles such as identifying patient goals and supporting shared decision making.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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METHIS Platform

The METHIS platform is a digital healthcare platform, supported by three databases using PostreSQL (based in relational SQL). One of the databases allows adequate internal testing before production. Another database of production (secured with unique access codes) will be created to retrieve data from the practices' and the last database for the research data, where pseudonymised production data can be analysed for research purposes. The platform is integrated (via FCCN Scientific Computation Unit of the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) with the Software Zoom® to allow encrypted teleconsultations, with a guarantee that each patient connection is unique. The digital platform is web-based, and it can be used in multiple devices.

Intervention Type DEVICE

Goal-Oriented Care Training Program

The training program will have three stages: initial face-to-face training, which will happen before the data collection, followed by remote, asynchronous training during a 12-month period, and a final seminar to discuss the results and inquire about the usability of the GOC model and the METHIS platform. The course will be offered to the intervention group one month before the start of patient recruitment, and for the control group at least one month after the end of data collection.

Intervention Type OTHER

Other Intervention Names

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Goal-Oriented Care Information System GOC Information System GOC Training Program

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* community-dwelling people
* aged 50 or older
* with complex multimorbidity (co-occurrence of three or more chronic conditions affecting three or more different body systems)
* with access to an Internet connection and a communication technology device

Exclusion Criteria

* inability to: provide informed consent, to read or write, inability to access an email or electronic device, even when helped by an informal caregiver
Minimum Eligible Age

50 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Administração Regional de Saúde de Lisboa e Vale do Tejo, Portugal

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role collaborator

Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

NOVA Medical School

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

NOVA School of Science and Technology ı FCT NOVA

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University Hospital, Geneva

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Universidade Nova de Lisboa

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Luís V. Lapão, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Universidade Nova de Lisboa

Central Contacts

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Luís V. Lapão, PhD

Role: CONTACT

+351 937234449

Bruno Heleno, PhD

Role: CONTACT

+351 218803000 ext. 26045

References

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Other Identifiers

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METHIS_CRTMB2022

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id