Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41730449›Full record

ArticleContemporary clinical trials2026

Protocol for a randomized trial of a scalable, interactive tool to support surrogate decision-makers of critically ill patients.

Aleksandra E Olszewski, Rachel A Butler, Deepshikha C Ashana, Shannon Carson, Christopher E Cox, Catherine L Hough, David Y Hwang, David Maloney, Florian Mayr, Vidya Menon and 5 more

Abstract readClinical Trial Protocol
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Contemporary clinical trials, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

15 authors.

Aleksandra E OlszewskiDepartment of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 3550 Terrace St, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. Electronic address: olszewskia@upmc.edu.
Rachel A ButlerDepartment of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 3550 Terrace St, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Deepshikha C AshanaDepartment of Medicine, Duke University, Davison Building, 40 Duke Medicine Cir Room 401, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Shannon CarsonDivision of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 4th Floor, Bioinformatics Building, 130 Mason Farm Rd, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA.
Christopher E CoxDepartment of Medicine, Duke University, Davison Building, 40 Duke Medicine Cir Room 401, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Catherine L HoughDivision of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Physicians Pavilion, 3270 SW Pavilion Loop, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
David Y HwangDivision of Neurocritical Care, Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, 170 Manning Dr, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
David MaloneyDepartment of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 3550 Terrace St, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Florian MayrDepartment of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 3550 Terrace St, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Vidya MenonDepartment of Medicine, Lincoln Medical Center - New York City Health and Hospitals, 234 E 149th St, Bronx, NY 10451, USA.
Jay S SteingrubDepartment of Critical Care Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Baystate, 759 Chestnut Street, Springfield, MA 01199, USA.
Donald R SullivanDivision of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Physicians Pavilion, 3270 SW Pavilion Loop, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
Grace VincentDepartment of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 3550 Terrace St, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Blair WendlandtDivision of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, 4th Floor, Bioinformatics Building, 130 Mason Farm Rd, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA.
Douglas WhiteDepartment of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 3550 Terrace St, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.

Funding

Randomized Trial of a Scalable, Interactive Tool to Support Surrogate Decision-makers of Elderly Critically Ill PatientsR01AG066731 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI WHITE, DOUGLAS B · 2020 to 2024
$3.3M
NIA NIH HHS R01 AG066731
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPatients, particularly those at the end of their lives, frequently receive goal-discordant care, and their surrogate decision-makers suffer long-term psychological injury. Contributors to these issues may include infrequent communication between clinicians and surrogates, failure to discuss prognosis, values, and treatment options that include comfort-focused care, and surrogates facing high-stakes decision-making while underprepared and overwhelmed psychologically and emotionally.

designThis is a multicenter, patient-randomized efficacy trial of a multi-component intervention, versus usual care, for 370 incapacitated, critically ill adults at high risk of death or severe disability, and their surrogate decision-makers, from 7 hospitals across the United States.

interventionThe intervention combines surrogate utilization of a digital Family Support Tool (FST) in real-time during their loved one's hospitalization with proactively scheduled family meetings, for which both surrogates and clinicians receive additional preparation, at set intervals during the ICU hospitalization. Those in the control arm will receive usual ICU care. OUTCOMES: Our primary outcome is patient-centeredness of care, measured using the modified Patient Perceived Patient-Centeredness of Care (PPPC) scale. Secondary outcomes include surrogates' psychological symptom burden, communication and decision quality, and patients' health resource utilization and clinical outcomes.

conclusionThis trial will provide robust evidence about the impact of combining the FST with increased and intentional communication, on patient, family, and health system outcomes for those hospitalized in the ICU.

Indexed as

Critical IllnessDecision MakingTerminal CareCommunicationHumansIntensive Care UnitsMulticenter Studies as TopicPatient-Centered CareProfessional-Family RelationsRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicUnited StatesClinical trialIntensive carePalliative carePatient-centered careQuality of communicationSurrogate decision-making

Identifiers

PMID41730449
PMCPMC13338951

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.