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Dabigatran Adherence Study

This study is currently recruiting participants.
Verified February 2013 by Department of Veterans Affairs
Sponsor:
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
Department of Veterans Affairs
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT01578044
First received: April 3, 2012
Last updated: February 28, 2013
Last verified: February 2013
History of Changes
  Purpose

Atrial fibrillation is a common cardiac problem and it increases the risk of clotting events especially in patients with multiple clotting risk factors. Therefore, patients are treated with warfarin, an oral anti-coagulant, which requires frequent lab monitoring and dose adjustment. The majority of veterans on warfarin are managed in anti-coagulation clinics staffed by pharmacists who routinely contact patients to remind them to get blood draws, to re-enforce taking of their medication, and to adjust warfarin dose based on lab test values. Not having adequate anti-coagulation increases the risk of clotting and is most commonly due to not taking medications as prescribed.

Dabigatran is a newly approved medication that may be better for some patients than warfarin for lowering the risk of stroke and clotting in patients with atrial fibrillation. Additional advantages of dabigatran include fewer drug problems, and eliminating the need lab monitoring. However, following the doctors instructions for taking the medication is an important consideration with dabigatran because it is a twice a day medication and requires monthly refills, both of which are strong risk factors for not following the prescribed instructions. In addition, patients taking dabigatran will not be followed in anti-coagulation clinics because there is no lab value to monitor, and therefore, they will no longer benefit from the support provided by these clinics.

It is anticipated that many patients will be switched to dabigatran following recent publication of criteria for dabigatran use from the VA National Pharmacy Benefits Management Program. For our study, we will first perform interviews with patients (n~30) and pharmacists (n~20) to better understand reasons why people take or don't take the medicine. Informed by the interviews and the literature on interventions to improve people taking their medicine, we will develop and test an intervention to improve taking dabigatran among patients recently started on dabigatran.

The Specific aims of this study are:

  1. Aim 1 - Conduct interviews with a sample of patients (n=30) recently started on dabigatran for atrial fibrillation to determine why patients take and don't take their medications.
  2. Aim 2 - Conduct interviews with pharmacists (n=20) in anti-coagulation clinics in order to understand their opinions why patients take and don't take their medications.
  3. Aim 3 - Informed by the interviews, develop and test an intervention targeting patients and pharmacists to improve patients taking their dabigatran.

Condition Intervention
Atrial Fibrillation
 Behavioral: Intervention

Study Type: Interventional
Study Design: Allocation: Randomized
Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single Blind (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
Official Title: Pilot Intervention to Improve Dabigatran Adherence

Resource links provided by NLM:

U.S. FDA Resources

Further study details as provided by Department of Veterans Affairs:

Primary Outcome Measures:
  • Gaps between prescription refills for dabigatran [ Time Frame: 6 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
    The investigators will calculate the number of gap days between refills for dabigatran for each of the 3 months of the pilot intervention This will be based on pharmacy refill data and calculated using the date dabigatran was dispensed and the number of days supplied for that prescription. We will add the number of gap days for each of the 3 months of the pilot for each patient, and compare the total number of gaps days between intervention and usual care patients. The gap days between refills is a validated measure of adherence and identifies patients with sub-optimal adherence.


Estimated Enrollment: 50
Study Start Date: January 2012
Estimated Study Completion Date: December 2013
Estimated Primary Completion Date: June 2013 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
Arms Assigned Interventions
Experimental: Facilitator to Dabigatran Adherence
  1. Patient education: Patients will receive information on dabigatran, including risks, benefits and potential side effects. This information will be re-enforced during the study on a monthly basis during the IVR calls and during the pharmacy service calls to patients.
  2. Tele-monitoring: We will use IVR technology to send patients an automated reminder to refill their dabigatran prescription. This call will be delivered on day 20 following each dabigatran prescription.
  3. Pharmacists follow-up: If dabigatran has not been refilled, the pharmacy staff will contact the patient to assess reasons that the patient has not refilled the medication.
 Behavioral: Intervention
  1. Patient education: Patients will receive information on dabigatran, including risks, benefits and potential side effects. This information will be re-enforced during the study on a monthly basis during the IVR calls and during the pharmacy service calls to patients.
  2. Tele-monitoring: We will use IVR technology to send patients an automated reminder to refill their dabigatran prescription. This call will be delivered on day 20 following each dabigatran prescription.
  3. Pharmacists follow-up: If dabigatran has not been refilled, the pharmacy staff will contact the patient to assess reasons that the patient has not refilled the medication.
Placebo Comparator: Arm 2
Usual care
 Behavioral: Intervention
  1. Patient education: Patients will receive information on dabigatran, including risks, benefits and potential side effects. This information will be re-enforced during the study on a monthly basis during the IVR calls and during the pharmacy service calls to patients.
  2. Tele-monitoring: We will use IVR technology to send patients an automated reminder to refill their dabigatran prescription. This call will be delivered on day 20 following each dabigatran prescription.
  3. Pharmacists follow-up: If dabigatran has not been refilled, the pharmacy staff will contact the patient to assess reasons that the patient has not refilled the medication.

  Show Detailed Description

  Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:   18 Years to 90 Years
Genders Eligible for Study:   Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   Yes
Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who have transitioned from warfarin to dabigatran or are recently started on anti-coagulation for atrial fibrillation with dabigatran will be eligible to be interviewed and partake in the intervention.
  • Pharmacists from the Denver VA Medical Center and who work in the anti-coagulation clinics will be eligible to be interviewed.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who prefer a telephone interview but do not have a telephone or cell phone will be excluded.
  • Patients for whom the VA is not the primary source of care will also be excluded.
  • Pregnant patients will be excluded.
  Contacts and Locations
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01578044

Contacts
Contact: Michael Ho, MD PhD (720) 857-5115 michael.ho@va.gov
Contact: Paul D Varosy, MD (415) 221-4710 ext 3178 Paul.Varosy@va.gov

Locations
United States, Colorado
VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Denver Recruiting
Denver, Colorado, United States, 80220
Contact: Robert L Keith, MD     303-399-8020 ext 3182     robert.keith@va.gov    
Contact: Pamela Rice, PhD     (303) 399-8020 ext 3846     Pamela.Rice@va.gov    
Principal Investigator: Michael Ho, MD PhD            
Sponsors and Collaborators
Department of Veterans Affairs
Investigators
Principal Investigator: Michael Ho, MD PhD VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Denver
  More Information

No publications provided

Responsible Party: Department of Veterans Affairs
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01578044     History of Changes
Other Study ID Numbers: RRP 11-424
Study First Received: April 3, 2012
Last Updated: February 28, 2013
Health Authority: United States: Federal Government

Keywords provided by Department of Veterans Affairs:
Anti-coagulation

Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Atrial Fibrillation
Arrhythmias, Cardiac
Heart Diseases
Cardiovascular Diseases
Pathologic Processes

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on May 23, 2013