A targeted assessment and intervention at the time of discharge reduced the risk of readmissions for short-term hospitalized older patients: a randomized controlled study.

Link to article at PubMed

Related Articles

A targeted assessment and intervention at the time of discharge reduced the risk of readmissions for short-term hospitalized older patients: a randomized controlled study.

Clin Rehabil. 2019 Apr 28;:269215519845032

Authors: Lindhardt T, Loevgreen SM, Bang B, Bigum C, Klausen TW

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to test and compare the effect of (1) a systematic discharge assessment with targeted advice and (2) a motivational interview followed by a home visit.
DESIGN: This was a three-armed randomized controlled study.
SETTING: This study was conducted in the Medical department in a university hospital.
SUBJECTS: Patients ⩾65 years of age with health problems at discharge participated in the study.
INTERVENTIONS: Group A ( n = 117): patients were informed of health problems and self-care interventions; Group B ( n = 116): a motivational conversation targeting activities of daily living with a home care nurse and a home visit.
MAIN MEASURES: The main measures of this study were readmissions, handgrip strength, chair-to-stand test, health-related quality of life, depression signs, mortality, and call on municipality services.
RESULTS: Risk of readmission was reduced for intervention groups by 30% (A; P = 0.26) and 22 % (B; P = 0.46). Mean number of days to first readmission was 49.5 (±51.0) days for the control group ( n = 116) and 57.9 (±53.6) and 67.2 (±58.1) days for the intervention groups A ( P  = 0.43) and B ( P  = 0.10), respectively. Mean loss of handgrip strength was 10.6 (±16.6) kg for men in the control group and 7 (±19.2) and 1.4 (±17.1) kg for the intervention groups A ( P  = 0.38) and B ( P  = 0.01), respectively. Health-related quality of life improved with 0.3 (±23.7) points in the control group and 7.4 (±24.4) and 3.2 (±22.3) points in the intervention groups A ( P = 0.04) and B ( P  = 0.37), respectively. In total, 17 (16.3%) in the control group were provided with assistive devices after three months and 8 (7.3%) and 19 (17.6%) in the intervention groups A ( P = 0.04) and B ( P  = 0.81), respectively.
CONCLUSION: The interventions reduced the risk of readmission and improved handgrip strength, quality of life, and use of assistive devices.

PMID: 31032629 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *