Acute geriatric intervention increases the number of patients able to live at home. A prospective randomized study

In a previous publication, we showed that treatment of acutely sick, frail elderly patients in a Geriatric Evaluation and Management Unit (GEMU) reduced mortality considerably when compared with the general Medical Wards (MW). The aim of this presentation was to study the impact of treatment in a GE...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Aging clinical and experimental research 2004-08, Vol.16 (4), p.300-306
Main Authors: Saltvedt, Ingvild, Saltnes, Turi, Mo, Ellen-Sofie Opdahl, Fayers, Peter, Kaasa, Stein, Sletvold, Olav
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Female
Frail Elderly
Frailty
Geriatric Assessment
Geriatrics
Health services utilization
Hospital Departments
Humans
Length of Stay
Male
Nursing Homes - statistics & numerical data
Patient Care
Prospective Studies
Residence Characteristics - statistics & numerical data
Survival Analysis
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Summary:In a previous publication, we showed that treatment of acutely sick, frail elderly patients in a Geriatric Evaluation and Management Unit (GEMU) reduced mortality considerably when compared with the general Medical Wards (MW). The aim of this presentation was to study the impact of treatment in a GEMU on health care utilization. Acutely sick, frail patients, 75 years or older, who had been admitted as emergencies to the Department of Internal Medicine were randomized either to treatment in the GEMU (n=127) or to continued treatment in the MW (n=127). While usual treatment was given in the MW, the GEMU emphasized interdisciplinary and comprehensive assessment of all relevant disorders, early mobilization/rehabilitation, and discharge planning. After discharge from hospital, no specific follow-up was offered to any of the groups. Of all subjects, 101 (80%) GEMU and 79 (64%) MW patients were still living in their own homes at three months (p=0.005); at six months the number was 91 (72%) and 74 (60%) (p=0.04) respectively. Median length of index stay was 19 days in the GEMU and 13 days in the MW group (p
ISSN:1594-0667
1720-8319
DOI:10.1007/BF03324555