Clinical trial NCT01706744: Effect of Discharge Via an Intermediate Care Unit
Official title: Can Discharge Via an Intermediate Care Unit Prevent Aggravation of Disease and Loss of Functionality, Without Increasing the Level of Cost? A Controlled Observational Study
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Patients
Aged
Keywords: Hospital Readmissions
Community Health Services
Preventive Health Services
Norway
Lead sponsor: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2012-10-15
Enrollment: 328
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 60
Maximum age (years): 99
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: The main goal is to investigate the following topics:

1. Can discharge via the Intermediate Care Unit in Stjørdal, compared to direct discharge to Verdal Municipality, be equally effective in preventing aggravation of disease and loss of function for patients over 60 years that have been hospitalized in Levanger hospital?
2. Are the cost by discharge to the Intermediate Care Unit in Stjørdal, when the hospital is not located in the same Municipality, comparable to the cost by direct discharge to the Municipality of Verdal, for patients over 60 years that have been hospitalized in Levanger hospital?
3. Which issues are considered important by patients and health personnel during discharge, arrival and follow up in the Municipality, to ensure an optimal interaction between the involved units.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

Patients 60 years old or older from Stjørdal- or Verdal municipality,

* given consent,
* admitted from their home,
* diagnostics completed and necessary treatment started
* the patient need not less than 3-4 days institutionalization for treatment/rehabilitation/care

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients with severe dementia
* Patients with severe disease who cannot give consent
* Patients with severe disease with short life expectancy (including severe cancer)

Primary outcomes:
measure: Hospital readmission
timeFrame: 30 days
measure: Use of local health care services
timeFrame: up to 1 year
Secondary outcomes:
measure: death
timeFrame: up to 1 year
measure: hospital admission
timeFrame: up to 1 year
measure: functional assessment status
timeFrame: up to 6 months
measure: Health service cost
timeFrame: up to 1 year
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Levanger
country: Norway
facility: Sykehuset Levanger
city: Stjørdal
country: Norway
facility: Distriksmedisinsk Senter
city: Stjørdal
country: Norway
facility: Stjørdal Kommune
city: Verdal
country: Norway
facility: Verdal kommune
Study officials:
affiliation: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
name: Roar Johnsen, PhD
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
References:
citation: Dahl U, Johnsen R, Saetre R, Steinsbekk A. The influence of an intermediate care hospital on health care utilization among elderly patients--a retrospective comparative cohort study. BMC Health Serv Res. 2015 Feb 1;15:48. doi: 10.1186/s12913-015-0708-4.
citation: Dahl U, Steinsbekk A, Jenssen S, Johnsen R. Hospital discharge of elderly patients to primary health care, with and without an intermediate care hospital - a qualitative study of health professionals' experiences. Int J Integr Care. 2014 Apr 30;14:e011. doi: 10.5334/ijic.1156. eCollection 2014 Apr.
citation: Dahl U, Steinsbekk A, Johnsen R. Effectiveness of an intermediate care hospital on readmissions, mortality, activities of daily living and use of health care services among hospitalized adults aged 60 years and older--a controlled observational study. BMC Health Serv Res. 2015 Aug 28;15:351. doi: 10.1186/s12913-015-1022-x.