The CHIldren with COugh Randomised Controlled Trial
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN11405239 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN11405239 |
| ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT) | Nil known |
| Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) | Nil known |
| Protocol serial number | CPMS 37163 |
| Sponsor | University of Bristol |
| Funder | NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies Co-ordinating Centre (NETSCC); Grant Codes: 16/31/98 |
- Submission date
- 09/04/2018
- Registration date
- 20/04/2018
- Last edited
- 06/05/2025
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Infections and Infestations
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
Coughs and colds (also known as respiratory tract infections or RTIs) are the most common reason that children are taken to family doctors and nurses (from here on 'clinicians'). Clinicians are not always sure how to treat them and often use antibiotics 'just in case'. There are now concerns that clinicians are using antibiotics too often, and that this is increasing the number of resistant bugs (bacteria that can't be killed by antibiotics). An intervention has been developed that helps clinicians to know which children are very unlikely to benefit from an antibiotic. Seven symptoms can be used to predict which children will and won't be hospitalised for their RTI. The researchers wish to see if using a scoring system, listening to parents' concerns and giving them a personalised leaflet with care and safety advice, reduces the number of antibiotics collected by parents at pharmacies. A study of 500 children showed that the intervention is quick, technically reliable, widely used and acceptable. The aim of this study is to get all clinicians in a group of practices to use the intervention for all children with cough or RTI, and compare with another group of practices where the clinicians are providing usual care. The data collected by the NHS will be used to work out if antibiotic prescribing levels are different between these groups, while hospitalisation rates stay the same. The main aim of the study is to see if the intervention is effective, safe and easy to use.
Who can participate?
Children aged 0-9 at participating GP practices in England
What does the study involve?
Participating GP practises are randomly allocated to either use the intervention or to provide usual care. 'Practice champions' (individual pharmacists or clinicians at each practice) in the intervention group encourage its use and feedback how well they are doing during the study. The intervention is also embedded within the computer systems already used at each practice for ease of access. The rate of prescribing of oral liquid antibiotics for children aged 0-9 years is measured using routinely reported NHS prescribing data, along with the number of children admitted to hospital for RTIs. This information does not report any patient details. The study also looks at if there are any differences in dispensing rates between GPs and nurses and for children of different ages.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Not provided at time of registration
Where is the study run from?
University of Bristol (UK)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
December 2017 to December 2021
Who is funding the study?
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (UK)
Who is the main contact?
Penny Seume
chico-study@bristol.ac.uk
Contact information
Scientific
Room 1.01 Canynge Hall
39 Whatley Road
Bristol Medical School
Bristol
BS8 2PS
United Kingdom
 ORCID ID |
0000-0001-9407-5828 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 (0)1173 314554 (Internal: 14554) |
| chico-study@bristol.ac.uk |
Study information
| Primary study design | Interventional |
|---|---|
| Study design | Randomized; Both; Design type: Process of Care, Management of Care, Qualitative |
| Secondary study design | Cluster randomised trial |
| Study type | Participant information sheet |
| Scientific title | A clinical effectiveness investigation of a multi-faceted intervention (incorporating a prognostic algorithm) to improve management of antibiotics for CHIldren presenting to primary care with acute COugh and respiratory tract infection (CHICO): an efficient cluster RCT informed by a feasibility RCT |
| Study acronym | The CHICO RCT |
| Study objectives | Coughs and colds (RTIs) are the most common reason that children visit GP surgeries. Clinicians (doctors and nurses) are not always sure how best to treat them and often use antibiotics ‘just in case’. There are concerns that clinicians use antibiotics too often and that this is increasing the number of resistant bugs (bacteria that are not killed by antibiotics). From a 5 year programme of NIHR funded work, the research team have developed an intervention that helps clinicians to know which children are very unlikely to benefit from an antibiotic. The intervention includes a decision aid which lets the clinician know if a child is likely to get well without antibiotics (the tool provides information, but the clinician still makes the final decision on the treatment received, based on what they believe is in the child’s best interests). Clinicians will listen to parents’ concerns and giving them a personalised leaflet with care and safety advice. The main aim of the study is to see if the intervention is effective, safe and easy to use. |
| Ethics approval(s) | Approved 01/06/2018, London – Camden and Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee (NHSBT Newcastle Blood Donor Centre, Holland Drive, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4NQ, UK; +44 (0)207 104 8086; nrescommittee.london-camdenandkingscross@nhs.net), ref: 18/LO/0345 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Respiratory tract infections |
| Intervention | 310 GP practices will take part in the study for 12 months. GP practices will be randomised 1:1 into intervention or usual care. The randomisation will be minimised within each CCG taking part by total population of 0-9yo patients and previous annual prescribing rate. The intervention is a clinical rule to predict hospitalisation of children with RTI. This rule was produced using signs, symptoms and demographic characteristics of over 8,300 children collected across England. Seven predictors of risk (STARWAVe) were identified from the baseline data collected and analysis of the prediction rule suggested good sensitivity and specificity. The prediction rule identifies children at low, medium and high risk of hospitalisation with advice given on how the clinician can use this information in conjunction with their own clinical judgement to decide the best course of action for each child. The rule will be embedded in EMIS software and activated in GP practices within the intervention arm of the trial. Data collected will be used to work out if antibiotic dispensing levels are different between the practices using the intervention compared to those that do not, and whether the hospitalisation rates remain the same in both groups of practices. Data will be collected on children aged 0-9 years old. |
| Intervention type | Other |
| Primary outcome measure(s) |
1. The annual rate of dispensed amoxicillin and macrolide prescribed for children (aged 0-9 years registered at the start of the designated period) at each practice over a 12-month period |
| Key secondary outcome measure(s) |
1. ED attendance rates for RTI over a 12-month period |
| Completion date | 31/12/2021 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Patient |
|---|---|
| Age group | Child |
| Lower age limit | 0 Years |
| Upper age limit | 9 Years |
| Sex | All |
| Target sample size at registration | 310 |
| Total final enrolment | 294 |
| Key inclusion criteria | The CHICO RCT will recruit GP practices from 15 Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) from demographically diverse regions across England. The population studied will be all children aged 0-9 years registered at practices using the EMISWeb system. The recruitment of practices will be via CCGs using established channels of communication. An internal pilot phase lasting 3 months and using 3 CCGs will help establish best practice for recruiting and communicating with practices before widening to the remaining CCGs over a staggered 4-month recruitment period. |
| Key exclusion criteria | Practices will be asked directly whether they are participating in any antimicrobial stewardship activities during the study period and these will be recorded. If these activities involve concurrent intervention studies where there is potential to confound or modify the effects of our intervention, these practices will be excluded. Children aged 10-14 were considered for inclusion but at this age an increasing number are given antibiotics in tablet form and given the much lower consultation rate in older children the research team decided to exclude this group from the study population. |
| Date of first enrolment | 01/06/2018 |
| Date of final enrolment | 30/09/2020 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- United Kingdom
- England
Study participating centre
Bristol Medical School
Canynge Hall (Room 1.01)
39 Whatley Road
Bristol
BS8 2PS
United Kingdom
Results and Publications
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
|---|---|
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| IPD sharing plan | Anonymous research data will be stored securely and kept for future analysis. Members of the TMG will develop a data sharing policy consistent with UoB policy. Data will be kept anonymous on secure access computers, and access will be via written confidentiality and data sharing agreements (DSA) with the CI (or his appointed nominee), supervised by the CI with the involvement of other members of the research team. Post-trial this may involve the Bristol Data Service who will allow access according to our pre-specified criteria. Any request approved will be covered by a written DSA, detailing limitations of use, transfer to 3rd parties, data storage and acknowledgements. The person applying for use of the data will be scrutinized for appropriate eligibility by members of the research team. All requests will require their own separate REC approval prior to data being released. Data will not be released prior to analyses for purposes that might detrimentally affect the trial integrity. |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results article | 01/07/2022 | 04/07/2022 | Yes | No | |
| Results article | 26/04/2023 | 27/04/2023 | Yes | No | |
| Results article | 01/12/2023 | 11/01/2024 | Yes | No | |
| Protocol article | 29/03/2021 | 31/03/2021 | Yes | No | |
| HRA research summary | 28/06/2023 | No | No | ||
| Other publications | Nested qualitative study | 01/06/2024 | 06/05/2025 | Yes | No |
| Participant information sheet | Participant information sheet | 11/11/2025 | 11/11/2025 | No | Yes |
| Study website | Study website | 11/11/2025 | 11/11/2025 | No | Yes |
Editorial Notes
06/05/2025: Publication reference added.
11/01/2024: Publication reference added.
27/04/2023: Publication reference added.
04/07/2022: Publication reference added.
10/03/2022: The following changes have been made:
1. The publication and dissemination plan has been updated.
2. The intention to publish date has been changed from 31/03/2022 to 31/12/2022.
29/07/2021: The overall trial end date was changed from 30/09/2021 to 31/12/2021. Total final enrolment added.
31/03/2021: Publication reference added.
04/09/2020: The intention to publish date was changed from 01/11/2020 to 31/03/2022.
15/07/2020: The following changes were made to the trial record:
1. Contact details updated.
2. The recruitment end date was changed from 31/12/2019 to 30/09/2020.
3. The overall trial end date was changed from 31/08/2020 to 30/09/2021.
4. Ethics approval details added.
5. The trial participating centre was added.
25/03/2019: The condition was updated from "Specialty: Infection, Primary sub-specialty: Other; UKCRC code/ Disease: Infection/ Other infectious diseases" to "Respiratory tract infections".
