AUTHOR=Chen Lingmin , Su Yanling , Quan Liuliu , Zhang Yonggang , Du Liang 

TITLE=Clinical Trials Focusing on Drug Control and Prevention of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia: A Comprehensive Analysis of Trials Registered on ClinicalTrials.gov

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2018

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2018.01574

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2018.01574

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=Objective Clinical trials have emerged as the main force in driving the development of medicine. However, little is known about the current status of clinical trials regarding ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). This study aimed at providing a comprehensive landscape of VAP-related trials on the basis of ClinicalTrials.gov database.
Methods A cross-sectional, descriptive study of clinical trials on drug control and prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia which have been registered on the ClinicalTrials.gov database up to 25th August 2018 was conducted. 
Results A total of 109 eligible trials were identified. Trials were started during 1998 to 2018, and most trials focused on adult patients. More than half trials were completed, while only 11.9% trials had results available. Sample sizes were relatively large, with a median enrollment of 146. Universities were listed as the primary sponsor for 36.7% trials, industry for 28.4% trials and hospitals for 19.3% trials. Of the 109 VAP trials, 37 trials were conducted in Europe, 36 in North America and 27 in Asia. Among the 97 interventional trials, 32 were phase 3 trials, 21 were phase 4 trials, and 16 were phase 2 trials. Most interventional trials were randomized trials with a parallel assignment, and 57.7% trials were blinded. Of the 12 observational trials, 9 were cohort studies, and ten trials were prospective. Drugs about oral care, preemptive antibiotics and probiotics were most investigated for prevention. A total of 61 trials investigated drugs for the treatment of VAP, mainly focused on antibiotics. A total of 36 kinds of antibiotics were investigated for monotherapy or combination therapy. Beta-lactams were most studied, followed by aminoglycosides and polypeptides. 
Conclusions Most clinical trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov about drugs for VAP were interventional trials with the purpose for treatment. A high proportion of interventional trials were randomized, parallel assigned and masked. Our analysis highlights the need for improvement in completeness of study results on the ClinicalTrials.gov.