Heather A. King, Ph.D.
Research Health Scientist, Durham VA Health Care System, Health Services Research and Development, Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT)
Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences and Division of General Internal Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine
About my role in the ARLG
For more than six years, I have had the opportunity to lead several ARLG patient-reported quality-of-life (QoL) studies on bacterial infections alongside wonderful ARLG collaborators like Drs. Thomas Holland, Sarah Doernberg, and Jessica Howard-Anderson. I also feel privileged to be part of ARLG’s Innovations Working Group under the leadership of Dr. Helen Boucher and to be a member of the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) Task Force. In addition, I provide expertise on study design and methodology to our U.S. and global colleagues.
About my work on QoL studies
We began our research in bloodstream infection and have expanded our work to address patient-reported HRQoL and its measurement across four major infectious syndromes which include complicated urinary tract infection (cUTI), acute bacterial skin and skin structure infection (ABSSSI), hospital acquired/ventilator associated bacterial pneumonia (HABP/VABP), and complicated intraabdominal infection (cIAI).
Current achievements and goals for this research
In July 2021, we produced a publication on patient-reported HRQoL in Clinical Infectious Diseases called Patients’ Experiences With Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Bacterial Bloodstream Infections: A Qualitative Descriptive Study and Concept Elicitation Phase To Inform Measurement of Patient-reported Quality of Life.
We first presented the work that led to this publication at the Academy Health Annual Research Meeting. The review committee selected the corresponding abstract for best poster for the patient-centered research theme and nominated it for the overall ARM best poster award. We also published a second paper in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, Patients’ Experiences With Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-Negative Bacterial Bloodstream Infections: Results From Cognitive Interviews to Inform Assessment of Health-Related Quality of Life.
As reported in this paper, we developed a customized survey based on well-established patient-reported outcome measures for bloodstream infections that captures what matters most to patients as they recover. I have consulted with colleagues in the U.S. and overseas to guide their use of the survey and our measurement strategy. In addition to informing our current work, the survey is now part of an ongoing U.S. clinical trial.
We are currently conducting four systematic reviews of health-related quality of life measurement in patients with cUTI, ABSSSI, HABP/VABP, and cIAI. We are also performing a syndrome-specific qualitative secondary analysis of patients’ bloodstream infection experiences. These papers in development, along with others, will comprise a supplement on the importance of listening to, learning from, and leveraging patients’ perspectives of their HRQoL to create patient-centered antibacterial trials. In addition, we are comparing patient and clinician perspectives of patient health-related quality of life in cUTI.
Why is this research important?
Engaging patients is crucial to developing treatments for bacterial infections. It is important to capture outcomes that reflect what matters most to patients as they recover.
Our work informs the measurement of patient-reported HRQoL in studies for new antibacterial agents. By incorporating these patient-reported outcome measures into clinical trials, we learn valuable information about the patients’ perspectives on the effects of an intervention including how it influences function across a variety of life domains.
What do you enjoy most about being part of the ARLG?
The network is a strong proponent of incorporating the patient perspective in research on bacterial infections and antibacterial resistance. I greatly appreciate the network’s leadership in the specific area of patient-reported health-related quality of life and its measurement. The research our team has conducted with the support of ARLG is both significant and innovative. I am also very thankful to Drs. Vance Fowler, Henry “Chip” Chambers, and the ARLG as a whole for providing valuable mentorship and great opportunities that have advanced my career as well as the science of antimicrobial resistance.