National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
Latest available findings on quality of and access to health care
Data
- Data Infographics
- Data Visualizations
- Data Tools
- Data Innovations
- All-Payer Claims Database
- Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)
- Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS)
- AHRQ Quality Indicator Tools for Data Analytics
- State Snapshots
- United States Health Information Knowledgebase (USHIK)
- Data Sources Available from AHRQ
Search All Research Studies
Topics
- Antibiotics (1)
- Case Study (1)
- Children/Adolescents (4)
- Clinical Decision Support (CDS) (1)
- Comparative Effectiveness (2)
- COVID-19 (1)
- Critical Care (1)
- Diagnostic Safety and Quality (1)
- Emergency Department (4)
- (-) Evidence-Based Practice (10)
- Guidelines (3)
- Healthcare Delivery (1)
- Health Information Technology (HIT) (1)
- Infectious Diseases (1)
- Inpatient Care (1)
- Medication (1)
- Mortality (1)
- Newborns/Infants (1)
- Outcomes (4)
- Patient-Centered Healthcare (1)
- Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (2)
- Pneumonia (1)
- Pregnancy (1)
- Quality Improvement (1)
- Quality of Care (1)
- Rural Health (1)
- Screening (1)
- (-) Sepsis (10)
- Telehealth (1)
- Treatments (1)
- Women (1)
AHRQ Research Studies
Sign up: AHRQ Research Studies Email updates
Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 10 of 10 Research Studies DisplayedScott Scott, Kempe A, Bajaj L
"These are our kids": qualitative interviews with clinical leaders in general emergency departments on motivations, processes, and guidelines in pediatric sepsis care.
Researchers sought to identify barriers and facilitators to pediatric sepsis care in general emergency departments (EDs), including care processes, the role of guidelines, and incentivized metrics. They interviewed medical directors, nurse managers, and quality coordinators. They found that leaders in general EDs were motivated to provide high-quality pediatric sepsis care but disagreed on whether reportable metrics would drive improvements. Leaders universally sought direct support from their nearest children's hospitals and actionable guidelines.
AHRQ-funded; HS025696.
Citation: Scott Scott, Kempe A, Bajaj L .
"These are our kids": qualitative interviews with clinical leaders in general emergency departments on motivations, processes, and guidelines in pediatric sepsis care.
Ann Emerg Med 2022 Oct;80(4):347-57. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2022.05.030..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Emergency Department, Sepsis, Guidelines, Evidence-Based Practice
Drewry AM, Mohr NM, Ablordeppey EA
Therapeutic hyperthermia is associated with improved survival in afebrile critically ill patients with sepsis: a pilot randomized trial.
This study’s objective was to test the hypothesis that forced-air warming of critically ill afebrile sepsis patients improves immune function compared to standard temperature management. Patients were considered eligible patients if they were mechanically ventilated septic adults with: 1) a diagnosis of sepsis within 48 hours of enrollment; 2) anticipated need for mechanical ventilation of greater than 48 hours; and 3) a maximum temperature less than 38.3°C within the 24 hours prior to enrollment. Intervention treatment was external warming using a forced-air warming blanket for 48 hours, with a goal temperature 1.5°C above the lowest temperature documented in the previous 24 hours. The authors enrolled 56 patients in this randomized, controlled trial. Participants allocated to external warming had lower 28-day mortality (18% vs 43%) and more 28-day hospital-free days. No differences were observed between the groups in HLA-DR expression or IFN-γ production.
AHRQ-funded; HS025753.
Citation: Drewry AM, Mohr NM, Ablordeppey EA .
Therapeutic hyperthermia is associated with improved survival in afebrile critically ill patients with sepsis: a pilot randomized trial.
Crit Care Med 2022 Jun;50(6):924-34. doi: 10.1097/ccm.0000000000005470..
Keywords: COVID-19, Sepsis, Treatments, Comparative Effectiveness, Evidence-Based Practice, Outcomes
Menon K, Schlapbach LJ, Akech S
Criteria for pediatric sepsis-a systematic review and meta-analysis by the Pediatric Sepsis Definition Taskforce.
This meta-analysis conducted by the Pediatric Sepsis Definition Taskforce determined the associations of demographic, clinical, laboratory, organ dysfunction, and illness severity variable values with sepsis, severe sepsis, or septic shock in children with infection; and multiple organ dysfunction or death in children with sepsis, severe sepsis, or septic shock. Criteria for included studies were case-control studies, cohort studies, and randomized controlled trials in children greater than or equal to 37-week-old postconception to 18 years with suspected or confirmed infection, which included the terms "sepsis," "septicemia," or "septic shock" in the title or abstract. One hundred and six studies met eligibility criteria of which 81 were included. Sixteen studies provided data for the sepsis, severe sepsis, or septic shock outcome and 71 studies for the mortality outcome. Significant and consistent associations with mortality were demonstrated in children with sepsis/severe sepsis/septic shock, chronic conditions, oncologic diagnosis, use of vasoactive/inotropic agents, mechanical ventilation, serum lactate, platelet count, fibrinogen, procalcitonin, multi-organ dysfunction syndrome, Pediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction score, Pediatric Index of Mortality-3, and Pediatric Risk of Mortality score.
AHRQ-funded; HS025696.
Citation: Menon K, Schlapbach LJ, Akech S .
Criteria for pediatric sepsis-a systematic review and meta-analysis by the Pediatric Sepsis Definition Taskforce.
Crit Care Med 2022 Jan;50(1):21-36. doi: 10.1097/ccm.0000000000005294..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Sepsis, Evidence-Based Practice
Greenwald E, Olds E, Leonard J
Pediatric sepsis in community emergency care settings: guideline concordance and outcomes.
The authors sought to describe the rate of guideline-concordant care, and hypothesized that guideline-concordant care in community pediatric emergency care settings would be associated with decreased hospital length of stay (LOS). They found that guideline-concordant care was not associated with hospital LOS. The elements that drove overall concordance were timely recognition, vascular access, and timely antibiotics. Emergency care for pediatric sepsis in the community settings studied was concordant with guidelines in only 24% of the cases. They recommended future study to evaluate additional drivers of outcomes and ways to improve sepsis care in community emergency care settings.
AHRQ-funded; HS025696.
Citation: Greenwald E, Olds E, Leonard J .
Pediatric sepsis in community emergency care settings: guideline concordance and outcomes.
Pediatr Emerg Care 2021 Dec;37(12):e1571-e77. doi: 10.1097/pec.0000000000002120..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Sepsis, Emergency Department, Guidelines, Evidence-Based Practice
Paul R, Niedner M, Brilli R
Metric development for the multicenter Improving Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes (IPSO) Collaborative.
A 56 US hospital collaborative, Improving Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes (IPSO), has developed variables, metrics and a data analysis plan to track quality improvement (QI)-based patient outcomes over time. Improving Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes expands on previous pediatric sepsis QI efforts by improving electronic data capture and uniformity across sites. This paper describes the metric development for the multicenter IPSO Collaborative.
AHRQ-funded; HS025696.
Citation: Paul R, Niedner M, Brilli R .
Metric development for the multicenter Improving Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes (IPSO) Collaborative.
Pediatrics 2021 May;147(5):e2020017889. doi: 10.1542/peds.2020-017889..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Sepsis, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Outcomes, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Evidence-Based Practice
Mohr NM, Harland KK, Okoro UE
TELEmedicine as an Intervention for Sepsis in Emergency Departments: a multicenter, comparative effectiveness study (TELEvISED Study).
Sepsis is a life-threatening infection that affects over 1.7 million Americans annually. Low-volume rural hospitals have worse sepsis outcomes, and emergency department (ED)-based telemedicine (tele-ED) has been one promising strategy for improving rural sepsis care. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of tele-ED consultation on sepsis care and outcomes in rural ED patients.
AHRQ-funded; HS025753.
Citation: Mohr NM, Harland KK, Okoro UE .
TELEmedicine as an Intervention for Sepsis in Emergency Departments: a multicenter, comparative effectiveness study (TELEvISED Study).
J Comp Eff Res 2021 Feb;10(2):77-91. doi: 10.2217/cer-2020-0141..
Keywords: Sepsis, Telehealth, Health Information Technology (HIT), Emergency Department, Comparative Effectiveness, Evidence-Based Practice, Rural Health, Healthcare Delivery
Gale BM, Hall KK
The use of patient monitoring systems to improve sepsis recognition and outcomes: a systematic review.
This systematic review’s aim was to determine the impact of automated patient monitoring systems (PMSs) on sepsis recognition and outcomes. The review was conducted using articles published from 2008 through 2018. Nineteen articles were identified for inclusion with 4 systematic reviews and 15 individual studies. Study results for outcome measures were mixed, with more than half the studies showing a significant improvement in at least one outcome measure (eg mortality, intensive care unit length of stay, ICU transfer). Evidence for process measure improvement was of moderate strength across multiple hospital units.
AHRQ-funded; 233201500013I.
Citation: Gale BM, Hall KK .
The use of patient monitoring systems to improve sepsis recognition and outcomes: a systematic review.
J Patient Saf 2020 Sep;16(3S Suppl 1):S8-s11. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000000750..
Keywords: Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Sepsis, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Screening, Outcomes, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Evidence-Based Practice
Schafer R, Phillippi JC
Group B streptococcal bacteriuria in pregnancy: an evidence-based, patient-centered approach to care.
Screening and management of group B streptococcus (GBS) bacteriuria in pregnancy aims to reduce the incidence of pyelonephritis and GBS-related neonatal morbidity and mortality. This article used a case study approach to discuss evidence-based, patient-centered care for group B streptococcal bacteriuria in pregnancy as well as ethical incorporation of individual patient preferences and values.
AHRQ-funded; HS024733.
Citation: Schafer R, Phillippi JC .
Group B streptococcal bacteriuria in pregnancy: an evidence-based, patient-centered approach to care.
J Midwifery Womens Health 2020 May;65(3):376-81. doi: 10.1111/jmwh.13085..
Keywords: Infectious Diseases, Pregnancy, Women, Patient-Centered Healthcare, Evidence-Based Practice, Newborns/Infants, Sepsis, Case Study
Trent SA, Jarou ZJ, Havranek EP
Variation in emergency department adherence to treatment guidelines for inpatient pneumonia and sepsis: a retrospective cohort study.
Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for the treatment of pneumonia and sepsis have existed for many years with multiple studies suggesting improved patient outcomes. Despite their importance, little is known about variation in emergency department (ED) adherence to these CPGs. The objectives of this study were to estimate variation in ED adherence across CPGs for pneumonia and sepsis and identify patient, provider, and environmental factors associated with adherence.
AHRQ-funded; HS022400.
Citation: Trent SA, Jarou ZJ, Havranek EP .
Variation in emergency department adherence to treatment guidelines for inpatient pneumonia and sepsis: a retrospective cohort study.
Acad Emerg Med 2019 Aug;26(8):908-20. doi: 10.1111/acem.13639.
.
.
Keywords: Emergency Department, Evidence-Based Practice, Guidelines, Inpatient Care, Pneumonia, Sepsis
Pepper DJ, Sun J, Rhee C
Procalcitonin-guided antibiotic discontinuation and mortality in critically ill adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
This study is a systematic review and meta-analysis on survival outcomes of using procalcitonin (PCT)-guided antibiotic discontinuation on critically ill adults. The study quality was assessing with the Cochrane risk of bias tool, and GRADEpro was used to grade evidence. PCT-guided discontinuation was associated with decreased mortality, but there was a high risk of bias in many of the studies reviewed with a low certainty of evidence. The authors suggest properly designed studies with mortality as the primary outcome is needed to further answer this question.
AHRQ-funded; HS025008.
Citation: Pepper DJ, Sun J, Rhee C .
Procalcitonin-guided antibiotic discontinuation and mortality in critically ill adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Chest 2019 Jun;155(6):1109-18. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2018.12.029..
Keywords: Antibiotics, Critical Care, Evidence-Based Practice, Medication, Mortality, Outcomes, Sepsis