The purpose of this pilot evaluation is to help determine the feasibility and power needed to prospectively evaluate relative effectiveness of high-dose influenza vaccine in preventing influenza mortality and hospitalization in a nursing home population in the U.S., compared to the standard-dose influenza vaccine.
Influenza remains the most common preventable respiratory viral infection of older adults. Older adults incur more than 90% of the disease burden, and those residing in nursing homes are the most affected subset given their immune senescence, multi-morbidity, and close living quarters. Each year, the majority of influenza-related hospitalizations occur during the period with the greatest influenza activity. Influenza vaccination has been associated with reduced hospitalization, strokes, heart attacks and death in non-institutional older adult populations, but the benefit of influenza vaccine for the oldest population has been questioned. The new high-dose influenza vaccine is considerably more immunogenic in older adults, and has recently been approved for use in individuals aged 65 years and older. No clinical data yet confirm whether the improved immunogenicity translates into added clinical benefit, such as further reduction in hospitalization or death. Estimating the benefit of influenza vaccination among older adults in long-term care settings using randomized controlled trials requires extensive effort and is costly. Instead, a pragmatic RCT in a nursing home population has several advantages as a model for comparing therapeutic approaches. This clinical trial aims to test the feasibility of our protocol for a subsequent larger study. We aim to demonstrate that we can recruit and enroll facilities; randomly assign and coordinate vaccine delivery; collect data; conduct site audits for data validation; create outcomes using multiple data sources; and conduct analyses.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
2,957
Nursing home residents over 65 years are allocated to receive high dose trivalent vaccine. Residents under 65 years are provided standard dose trivalent vaccine (TIV).
Nursing home residents are allocated to receive standard trivalent vaccine (TIV).
Brown Univeristy
Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Insight Therapeutics
Norfolk, Virginia, United States
Total All-cause Hospitalizations
The primary outcome will establish our methodology for measuring all-cause hospitalizations using the Minimum Data Set (MDS).
Time frame: 1 year
Change in Residents' Functional Status
The secondary outcome will establish our methodology for measuring change in functional status of nursing home residents using Activities of Daily Living (ADL) data in the Minimum Data Set (MDS). A change in functional status is defined as a decline in physical functioning by at least 4 points on the 28-point ADL scale.
Time frame: 1 year
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