MedPath

Effect of a Transitional Care Intervention

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Frailty
Interventions
Other: Follow-Home-intervention
Registration Number
NCT04796701
Lead Sponsor
University of Aarhus
Brief Summary

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of a transitional care intervention on readmissions among older medical patients.

The proportion of older people is rapidly growing. These changes represent a challenge for healthcare systems. 20% of all hospital admitted patients ≥ 65 years are readmitted within the first 30 days after discharge. Prior transitional care research has mainly focused on either hospital-based or community-based interventions with no or little intervention elements in both settings. The results show different effects on readmission rates. This calls for new research on trans-sectorial interventions with both pre- and post-discharge elements.

Detailed Description

Design:

Non-randomized controlled trial.

Participants For eligibility criteria - see elsewhere. Intervention group • Patients living in Odder, Skanderborg or Hedensted municipality

Control group

• Patients living in Horsens municipality

Follow-Home Intervention

The intervention group receives following intervention:

If possible, all included participants are physically followed home by a hospital-based project worker on the day of discharge. During the visit, the focus is on: basic human needs, medication review reconciliation, and a comprehensive geriatric assessment. Problems, challenges and concerns are discussed. Finally, a conference for the following working day is arranged either as a physical visit or a video conference. The patient, relatives, community-based nurse and project worker are invited to participate and health status and challenges are discussed They are recommended to contact the project worker about health and practical issues up to 7 days after discharge where the intervention ends. Subsequently, the responsibility for treatment and care is assigned to the GP and home healthcare provider.

Usual care

Patients in the control group recieves the following usual discharge procedure:

On the day of discharge, the hospital-based nurse digitally sends a summery of the hospital stay and a treatment and care plan to the community-based nurse. If needed, the hospital-based nurse contacts the community-based nurse by phone as a supplement to the plan. Finally, a discharge letter conducted by the hospital-based doctor is digitally sent to the GP.

Method:

Inclusion of participants is consecutive. Inclusion period was between 01/02/17 to 31/12/19. In total, approximately 1200 patients were included .

Data collection Outcome data will be retrieved from CROSS-TRACKS database at 30 days after discharge from index admission.

Analysis

Intervention and Control group will be matched on 3 variables on individual level:

* CCI

* Index admission period: +/- 3-4 weeks

* Sex

All readmissions are included in the analysis (not only first time readmissions). That means that one patient can be included several times.

Logistic regression adjusted for possible confounders will be used when analysing the outcomes. Confounders are chosen through a study specific DAG.

Sub-group analysis will be conducted according to:

* Age

* Sex

* Housing

* Civil status

* Social status

* Length of hospital stay in index admission

* Comorbidity

* Diagnosis

* Ect.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
1266
Inclusion Criteria
  • Patients aged ≥75 years
  • Living in the municipalities of Odder, Skanderborg, Hedensted or Horsens
  • Admitted for ≥48 hours
  • Discharged from Medical Ward 1 (MSA1) at Horsens Regional Hospital (HRH)
Exclusion Criteria
  • Terminally ill patients
  • Patients with cerebrovascular events
  • Readmitted to another hospital
  • Not able to speak and understand Danish

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Follow Home InterventionFollow-Home-interventionIf possible, all included participants are physically followed home by a hospital-based project worker on the day of discharge. During the visit, the focus is on: basic human needs, medication review reconciliation, and a comprehensive geriatric assessment. Problems, challenges and concerns are discussed. Finally, a conference for the following working day is arranged either as a physical visit or a video conference. The patient, relatives, community-based nurse and project worker are invited to participate and health status and challenges are discussed They are recommended to contact the project worker about health and practical issues up to 7 days after discharge where the intervention ends. Subsequently, the responsibility for treatment and care is assigned to the GP and home healthcare provider.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
ReadmissionReadmission will be assessed at 30 days after hospital discharge in both intervention and control group

Unplanned all-cause readmission

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
MortalityMortality will be assessed at 30 days after hospital discharge in both intervention and control group

All-cause mortality

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Horsens Regional Hospital

🇩🇰

Horsens, Denmark

© Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved by MedPath