Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35383128›Full record

Trial reportBMJ quality & safety2023

Effect of clinical peer review on mortality in patients ventilated for more than 24 hours: a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Jochen Schmitt, Martin Roessler, Peter Scriba, Felix Walther, Xina Grählert, Maria Eberlein-Gonska, Ralf Kuhlen, Olaf Schoffer

Open access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled TrialPragmatic Clinical Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMJ quality & safety, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 22% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Jochen Schmitt *Zentrum für Evidenzbasierte Gesundheitsversorgung, Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, Germany.
Martin Roessler *Zentrum für Evidenzbasierte Gesundheitsversorgung, Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, Germany martin.roessler@uniklinikum-dresden.de.ORCID 0000-0002-4662-4156
Peter ScribaInitiative Qualitätsmedizin (IQM), Berlin, Germany.
Felix WaltherZentrum für Evidenzbasierte Gesundheitsversorgung, Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, Germany.
Xina GrählertKoordinierungszentrum für Klinische Studien, Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus der Technischen Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Maria Eberlein-GonskaQuality and Medical Risk Management, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Ralf KuhlenInitiative Qualitätsmedizin (IQM), Berlin, Germany.
Olaf SchofferZentrum für Evidenzbasierte Gesundheitsversorgung, Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-6922-7148
University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus · DEInstitut für Qualität im Management (Germany) · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlthough clinical peer review is a well-established instrument for improving quality of care, clinical effectiveness is unclear.

methodsIn a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial, we randomly assigned 60 German Initiative Qualitätsmedizin member hospitals with the highest mortality rates in ventilated patients in 2016 to intervention and control groups. The primary outcome was hospital mortality rate in patients ventilated fore more than 24 hours. Clinical peer review was conducted in intervention group hospitals only. We assessed the impact of clinical peer review on mortality using a difference-in-difference approach by applying weighted least squares (WLS) regression to changes in age-adjusted and sex-adjusted standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) 1 year before and 1 year after treatment. Recommendations for improvement from clinical peer review and hospital survey data were used for impact and process analysis.

resultsWe analysed 12 058 and 13 016 patients ventilated fore more than 24 hours in the intervention and control hospitals within the 1-year observation period. In-hospital mortality rates and SMRs were 40.6% and 1.23 in intervention group and 41.9% and 1.28 in control group hospitals in the preintervention period, respectively. The groups showed similar hospital (bed size, ownership) and patient (age, sex, mortality, main indications) characteristics. WLS regression did not yield a significant difference between intervention and control groups regarding changes in SMRs (estimate=0.04, 95% CI= -0.05 to 0.13, p=0.38). Mortality remained high in both groups (intervention: 41.8%, control: 42.1%). Impact and process analysis indicated few perceived outcome improvements or implemented process improvements following the introduction of clinical peer review.

conclusionsThis study did not provide evidence for reductions in mortality in patients ventilated for more than 24 hours due to clinical peer review. A stronger focus on identification of structures and care processes related to mortality is required to improve the effectiveness of clinical peer review.

Indexed as

HospitalsPatientsHospital MortalityHumansPeer Reviewcluster trialscritical carequality improvementrandomised controlled trial

Identifiers

PMID35383128
PMCPMC9811097
OpenAlexW4223926319

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.