INCremental Dialysis to Improve Health Outcomes in People Starting Haemodialysis (INCH-HD)

NARECRUITING

The INCH-HD trial will test if incremental HD preserves the quality of life of patients and families and is a safe, practical, cost effective treatment option.

Study details:

Kidney failure is a growing public health problem and fatal unless treated with dialysis or transplantation. Haemodialysis is the most common treatment for kidney failure in Australia and globally. Patients find haemodialysis extremely burdensome due to symptoms like fatigue, pain, cramps and poor quality of life that generally equates to \<60% of full health.

Furthermore, haemodialysis is associated with an extremely high mortality (\<50% survive 5 years), particularly in the first 3-6 months of starting haemodialysis, which is likely linked to the rapid loss of patients' own kidney function when starting haemodialysis abruptly at three sessions/week. Observational studies suggest that starting haemodialysis incrementally at two sessions/ week is associated with lower mortality and better preservation of patients' remaining kidney function while offering many patient-important advantages, including dialysis free time and ability to work. However, robust evidence to recommend this incremental approach is lacking.

The INCH-HD study is an investigator-initiated, international, multicentre, prospective, adaptive, randomised, open-label, parallel group, non-inferiority trial. The primary objective of the study is to demonstrate whether incremental HD is non-inferior to conventional HD for the patient-important outcome of quality of life measured using Kidney-specific component of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life - Short Form measurement (KDQOL-SF) at 6 months from dialysis commencement. The study will recruit a total of 372 participants across HD centres in Australia, and Canada.

The outcomes of this trial will will provide urgently needed high quality evidence on whether starting haemodialysis incrementally at two sessions/week compared to the conventional three sessions/week can safely reduce the physical, financial and quality-of life burden on patients, lower early mortality rates and slow loss of kidney function while increasing haemodialysis capacity and reducing costs.

Eligibility criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. See if you qualify.

Inclusion criteria

  1. Adults (≥ 18 years of age)
  2. Commencing HD as their initial dialysis therapy
  3. Able to give informed consent

Exclusion criteria

  1. Urine output <0.5Litres/day
  2. Unlikely to be on HD for ≥1 year

Eligibility

Age eligible for study : NA

Healthy volunteers accepted : No

Gender eligible for study: ALL

Things to know

Study dates

Study start:

Primary completion:

Study completion finish:

study type

Study type

TREATMENT

phase

Phase

    NA

trial

Study ID

NCT04932148

Intervention or treatment

OTHER: Incremental HD

OTHER: Conventional HD

Conditions

  • Kidney Failure
  • Condition: Kidney Failure

  • OTHER: Incremental HD and other drugs

  • Concord, New South Wales, Australia and more

  • Sponsor: The University of Queensland

You may be eligible to participate in this trial based on your search. Check eligibility by answering some questions.

Are you running this trial?

If you're a clinic or sponsor, you can claim this study

Research sites nearby

Closest Location:

Concord Repatriation General Hospital

Select from list below to view details:

  • Concord Repatriation General Hospital

    Concord, New South Wales, Australia

  • Northern Beaches Hospital

    Frenchs Forest, New South Wales, Australia

  • St George Hospital

    Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia

  • Liverpool Hospital

    Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia

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Who is running the clinical trial?

TUoQ

The University of Queensland

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Participant Group/ArmIntervention/Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Incremental HD
  • Participants randomised to incremental HD will commence HD twice weekly and continue until an indication for an increase to three sessions/week (trigger point) is reached.
Other: Incremental HD
    OTHER: Conventional HD
    • Participants randomised to conventional HD will commence HD thrice weekly from the first HD session.
    Other: Conventional HD

      What is the study measuring?

      Primary Outcome

      MeasureDescriptionTime Frame
      Heath related quality of lifeThis will be measured using Kidney-specific component (KSC) of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form (KDQOL-SF) V1.3 questionnaire. The KSC is the mean of the 11 domains of the kidney-disease specific items of KDQOL-SF. Scores are transformed onto a 0-100 range, where a higher score reflects a better quality of life.6 months

      Secondary Outcome

      MeasureDescriptionTime Frame
      Residual kidney function (RKF)Calculated as (creatinine clearance + kidney urea clearance) divided by 2 then corrected for body surface area using the DuBois method (0.20247 x (height in centimetres x 0.725) x (weight in kilograms x 0.425). Expressed as millilitres per minute (ml/min). Expected range 1 ml/min to 20 ml/min, where lower values indicate worse kidney function.Baseline, 3, 6, 12 and 18 months
      Healthcare resource utilisationHealthcare resource use over 18 months using linked data and patient monthly calendarsBaseline to 18 months
      Healthcare costsHealthcare costs over 18 months using linked data and patient monthly calendarsBaseline to 18 months
      Heath related quality of life using Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form (KSQOL-SF) questionnaireHeath-related quality of life will be measured using Kidney-specific component (KSC) of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form (KDQOL-SF) V1.3 questionnaire. The KSC is the mean of the 11 domains of the kidney-disease specific items of KDQOL-SF. Scores are transformed onto a 0-100 range, where a higher score reflects a better quality of life.Baseline, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 months
      Heath related quality of life using EuroQol 5-dimension 5-level (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaireHeath-related quality of life will be measured using EuroQol 5 Domain 5 Level (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire. EQ-5D has descriptive and visual analogue scale (VAS). Descriptive system consists of five dimensions mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression. VAS records patient's self-rated health on vertical visual analogue scale with endpoints best to worst health with 0 being worst and 100 being best health.Baseline, monthly to 18 months
      Incidence of all-cause mortalityIncidence of all-cause mortality up to 18 monthsBaseline to 18 months
      Time to major cardiovascular event (MACE)Time to first major cardiovascular event (MACE) up to 18 monthsBaseline to 18 months
      Number of non-elective hospital admissionsNumber of non-elective hospital admissions up to 18 monthsBaseline to 18 months
      Total hospital daysTotal hospital days up to 18 monthsBaseline to 18 months
      Time to deathTime to death up to 18 monthsBaseline to 18 months
      Number of hospital admissionsNumber of hospital admissions up to 18 monthsBaseline to 18 months
      Adverse events and side-effectsThis will include episodes of hyperkalaemia, extra dialysis sessions for fluid overload, number of vascular access complicationsBaseline to 18 months
      Symptom scoresThis will be measured using change in the physical and mental component summaries of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form (KDQOL-SF) V1.3 questionnaire. This is scored using the mean of the physical and mental components of the KDQOL-SF. Scores are transformed onto a 0-100 range, where a higher score reflects a better quality of life.Baseline, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 months
      FatigueThis will be measured using the Standardised Outcomes in Nephrology-Haemodialysis (SONG-HD) Fatigue questionnaire. The SONG-HD Fatigue measure consists of three items that assess the effect of fatigue on life participation, tiredness, and level of energy. The overall score for fatigue is obtained by summing the responses across the three questions, resulting in a scale ranging from zero (no fatigue) to nine (maximum fatigue).Baseline, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 months
      Nutritional StatusThis will be measured using the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) of nutrition which is scored as proportion of well nourished (A) versus malnourished (B or C). A (well nourished), B (mildly-moderately malnourished), C (Severely malnourished)Baseline, 6, 12 and 18 months
      Vascular accessThis will be measured as mumber of functional vascular access interventions required per patient per year to enable and /or maintain vascular access for HD per patient-yearBaseline to 18 months
      Are you running this trial?If you're a clinic or sponsor, you can claim this study.

      References

      Clinical Trials Gov: INCremental Dialysis to Improve Health Outcomes in People Starting Haemodialysis (INCH-HD)

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