A clinical trial examining the use of early mobilisation as a treatment for invasively ventilated adults has been awarded Clinical Trial of the Year by the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance (ACTA).
The study titled ‘Treatment of Invasively Ventilated Adults with Early Mobilisation Activity and Mobilisation (TEAM)’ was awarded the accolade as part of the ACTA’s Trial of the Year Award, acknowledging the trial’s impact in advancing clinical practice and improving patient outcomes.
The randomised trial (NCT03133377) was launched in 2017. It was funded by Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and New Zealand’s Health Research Council (NZHRC) in a bid to help patients recovering from mechanical ventilation regain mobility.
It investigated 750 critically ill patients at sites in multiple countries, including the UK, New Zealand, Brazil and Europe. The trial found no difference between early activity and standard care when it comes to the number of days patients were alive and out of the hospital after 180 days in intensive care.
The trial concluded that activity and mobilisation delivered as current standard procedure in Australia is a safer approach than a much higher and more intensive amount of exercise following invasive mechanical ventilation.
Chief investigator Carol Hodgson said: “The TEAM trial, led by a multidisciplinary team questioned the dose of mobilisation in ICU. We found that a high dose of mobilisation increased adverse events without improving days alive and at home compared to usual care mobilisation.”
According to GlobalData’s clinical trial database, 103 clinical trials in Australia were completed in 2022, investigating 130 drugs and involving 147 sponsors. Infectious diseases were the most common therapy area.
GlobalData is the parent company of Clinical Trials Arena.
The Australian government has been aiming to make the country a more attractive location for upcoming clinical trials. A few years ago, the government announced a new tax incentive that offers a tax rebate of up to 43.5% on clinical trial-related R&D costs.
As previously reported by Clinical Trials Arena, the NHMRC found that efforts to improve the participation of Indigenous Australians in clinical trials saw little progress. Only 139 out of 9,206 clinical trials studied between 2008 and 2018 focussed on Indigenous health.
Other clinical trials in the running for the award included a trial examining the effect of selective decontamination of the digestive tract on hospital mortality in critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation, and the effect of audit and feedback on rates and musculoskeletal diagnostic imaging requests by Australian general practitioners.
