A study to test a sensor for giving early warning of urinary catheter blockage

ISRCTN ISRCTN51644058
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN51644058
IRAS number 261065
Secondary identifying numbers CPMS 44678, IRAS 261065
Submission date
11/01/2023
Registration date
25/01/2023
Last edited
16/02/2023
Recruitment status
No longer recruiting
Overall study status
Completed
Condition category
Urological and Genital Diseases
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data

Plain English Summary

Background and study aims
In the UK, approximately 15-25% of patients admitted to NHS hospitals each year will require urethral catheterisation. Foley catheters are often used on a long-term (≥30 days) indwelling basis, as a common management technique for urinary incontinence or retention and carry an approximate 5% per day risk of developing bacterial infections. These infections usually manifest as catheter blockages, resulting in painful distention of the bladder, and can lead to serious symptomatic episodes such as acute pyelonephritis and septicaemia.

Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is the second most common cause of hospital-acquired infection, accounting for approximately 80% of hospital-acquired infections worldwide, and its prevention is an important part of patient safety initiatives in many countries. The development of CAUTI is likely to prolong a patient’s hospital stay by an estimated 0.5 days to 5 days, and suffering from CAUTI adversely affects the quality of life. In the US alone, CAUTIs result in approximately $425 million in excess healthcare costs and 13,000 deaths. The aim of this study is to carry out a pilot study by recruiting around 48 catheterized patients over 5 months.

Who can participate?
Adult patients with long-term in-dwelling urinary catheters who are attending the weekly urology clinic at the Royal United Hospital in Bath

What does the study involve?
Asking volunteers to donate their used catheter drainage bags (removed in the Urology department clinic). The urine (in drainage bags) will be taken to the laboratory at the University of Bath for evaluation of urine microbiology and to test a new diagnostic lozenge that will be inserted into the urine-containing drainage bags.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The benefit of this research is that a diagnostic lozenge has been designed to give the patient, or carer, an early warning of approximately 14 hours before the onset of infection or potential catheter blockage. The study of the donated catheter urinary bags will take place in the university laboratory, and there will be no change to the clinical pathway and thus no risks to the patient.

Where is the study run from?
University of Bath, BioPhysical research laboratory (UK)

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
October 2019 to January 2022

Who is funding the study?
Urology Foundation (UK)

Who is the main contact?
Prof Toby Jenkins (Research Chief Investigator), a.t.a.jenkins@bath.ac.uk

Contact information

Prof Toby Jenkins
Principal Investigator

University of Bath
Department of Chemistry
Bath
BA2 7AY
United Kingdom

ORCiD logoORCID ID 0000-0002-8981-3029
Phone +44 (0)1225386118
Email a.t.a.jenkins@bath.ac.uk
Mr Edward ‘Edd’ Jefferies
Scientific

Consultant Urological Surgeon
Royal United Hospital
Combe Park
Bath
BA1 3NG
United Kingdom

Phone +44 (0)7968 847926
Email edwardjefferies@nhs.net

Study information

Study designObservational non-randomized unblinded single-centred 6-month study
Primary study designObservational
Secondary study designCase series
Study setting(s)Hospital
Study typeDiagnostic
Participant information sheet 43029_PIS_leaflet_05Feb2020.pdf
Scientific titleA study to test a sensor for giving early warning of urinary catheter blockage
Study acronymURINOSTICS
Study hypothesisTo carry out a pilot study by recruiting around 48 catheterized patients over 5 months, and asking them to donate their used catheter drainage bags (removed in the clinic at the Urology department at the Royal United Hospital in Bath). The urine (in drainage bags) will be taken to the lab, at the University of Bath, for evaluation of urine microbiology and to test a new diagnostic lozenge (that will be inserted into the urine-containing drainage bags). The diagnostic lozenge has been designed to give the patient, or carer, an early warning (of approximately 14 hours) of the onset of infection or potential catheter blockage.
Ethics approval(s)1. Approved 06/03/2020, London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee (HRA RES Centre Manchester, Barlow House 3rd Floor, 4 Minshull Street, Manchester, M1 3DZ, UK; +44 (0)207104828, (0)2071048272; bloomsbury.rec@hra.nhs.uk), ref: 20/LO/0094
2. Approved 18/03/2020, HRA and Health and Care Research Wales (HCRW; Castlebridge 4, Cardiff, CF11 9AB, Wales, UK; +44 (0)2920 230457; HCRW.approvals@wales.nhs.uk), ref: 20/LO/0094
ConditionPatients requiring catheterising
InterventionURINOSTICS lozenge - lab prototype is inserted into the urinary leg bag after patients have donated them, i.e. not part of patient pathway.

Observational:
Feasibility of study design with a view to a larger trial:
1. Practicalities of sample collection and viewing technology ‘switch-on’ / colour change in urine collection bags
2. pH measure of all donated urine as soon as practicable
3. A microbiological test for the presence of Proteus mirabilis in urine
4. Correlation of technology result against retrospective clinical decision of patient infection condition (time to catheter blockage following urine donation)
5. To correlate sensor switch-on with patient-reported quality of life factors
6. To undertake PPI to assess understanding of the study concept and recruitment to a study assessing the technology
Intervention typeDevice
Pharmaceutical study type(s)
PhaseNot Applicable
Drug / device / biological / vaccine name(s)URINOSTICS lozenge
Primary outcome measure1. Correlation of technology result against the retrospective clinical decision of patient infection condition (time to catheter blockage following urine donation), measured using the case report form (CRF) and telephone interview at the time of donation and 3 weeks later
2. To correlate sensor switch-on with patient-reported quality of life measured using the ICIQ-Long Term Catheter quality of life (ICIQ-LTCqol) questionnaire and sensor turn-on at the time of donation, and 24 h later
Secondary outcome measuresFeasibility of study design with a view to a larger trial:
1. Practicalities of sample collection and viewing technology ‘switch-on’ / colour change in urine collection bags measured using visual assessment at 24 h
2. pH measure of all donated urine measured using a pH meter as soon as practicable
3. Presence of Proteus mirabilis in urine measured using standard microbiological testing of a bacterial swab taken at the time of donation. Individual bacterial species are visually identified, and freezer stocks are made. 16S rRNA sequencing was completed on the freezer stocks. The initial analysis is undertaken within 24 h and the final 16S rRNA sequencing within 6 months.
Overall study start date07/10/2019
Overall study end date31/01/2022

Eligibility

Participant type(s)Patient
Age groupAdult
Lower age limit18 Years
SexBoth
Target number of participants48
Total final enrolment35
Participant inclusion criteria1. Patients with long term in-dwelling urinary catheters
2. Adult aged >18 years old
3. Attendance at a weekly urology clinic
4. Consent gained for study
Participant exclusion criteria1. Consent not gained for study
2. Child aged < 18 years old
3. Adult without mental capacity to consent
Recruitment start date03/08/2021
Recruitment end date11/01/2022

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • England
  • United Kingdom

Study participating centre

Ruh Urgent Care Centre
Combe Park
Bath
BA1 3NG
United Kingdom

Sponsor information

University of Bath
University/education

The Avenue
Claverton Down
Bath
BA2 7AY
England
United Kingdom

Phone +44 (0)1225388388
Email pro-vc-research@bath.ac.uk
Website http://www.bath.ac.uk/
ROR logo "ROR" https://ror.org/002h8g185

Funders

Funder type

Research organisation

Urology Foundation
Private sector organisation / Trusts, charities, foundations (both public and private)
Alternative name(s)
TUF
Location
United Kingdom

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date01/04/2023
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareYes
IPD sharing plan summaryStored in non-publicly available repository
Publication and dissemination plan1. Planned publication in a high impact peer-reviewed journal
2. Presentation at international conferences
IPD sharing planCurrent IPD sharing statement as of 16/02/2023:
Anonymised electronic storage of the data from the trial is held securely in a DropBox folder held by the University of Bath. The preprint article of the study is available at MedRxiv.
The type of data stored: Anonymised participant data: responses from CRF, laboratory experiments, and quality-of-life questionnaire responses.
The process for requesting access (if non-publicly available): email to the corresponding author: chsataj@bath.ac.uk
Dates of availability: Anytime from the date of MedRxiv preprint publication: 26/10/2022, for the following 5 years.
Whether consent from participants was required and obtained: Informed consent was gained from participants. This data is held at Royal United Hospital, Bath. This data has been archived.
Comments on data anonymization: Researchers had no access to the identifiable data of the participants. Participants were given a study ID to allow for anonymisation. Only research nurses at the site had access to this information.
Any ethical or legal restrictions: No ethical or legal restrictions.

Previous IPD sharing statement:
The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available upon request from Prof Toby Jenkins, a.t.a.jenkins@bath.ac.uk. Anonymized data from the CRF and laboratory analysis will be stored. Consent was required and obtained. Data were anonymised at the source (at the hospital), such that a list was maintained by the research nurse that correlated a unique patient ID with the patient's NHS number. This list is kept confidential by the university research team.

Study outputs

Output type Details Date created Date added Peer reviewed? Patient-facing?
Participant information sheet 05/02/2020 23/01/2023 No Yes
Protocol file version 1.0 13/05/2021 23/01/2023 No No
Preprint results 26/10/2022 14/02/2023 No No
HRA research summary 28/06/2023 No No

Additional files

43029_PIS_leaflet_05Feb2020.pdf
43029_Protocol_V 1.0_13May2021.pdf

Editorial Notes

16/02/2023: IPD sharing statement updated.
14/02/2023: Preprint added.
23/01/2023: Trial's existence confirmed by the HRA (UK).