Evidence map›Paper›PMID 19164393›Full record

SynthesisBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2009

Effectiveness of acute geriatric units on functional decline, living at home, and case fatality among older patients admitted to hospital for acute medical disorders: meta-analysis.

Juan J Baztán, Francisco M Suárez-García, Jesús López-Arrieta, Leocadio Rodríguez-Mañas, Fernando Rodríguez-Artalejo

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 117 papers, 14 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
117citing papers in PubMed, 14 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

117 citing papers in PubMed, 14 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  7. Comprehensive geriatric assessment for older adults admitted to hospital.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017
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  12. Comprehensive geriatric assessment for older adults admitted to hospital.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2011
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57 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Juan J BaztánDepartment of Geriatrics, Hospital Central Cruz Roja, Madrid, Spain. jbaztan.hccruzr@salud.madrid.org
Francisco M Suárez-García
Jesús López-Arrieta
Leocadio Rodríguez-Mañas
Fernando Rodríguez-Artalejo

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo assess the effectiveness of acute geriatric units compared with conventional care units in adults aged 65 or more admitted to hospital for acute medical disorders.

designSystematic review and meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES: Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Library up to 31 August 2008, and references from published literature. Review methods Randomised trials, non-randomised trials, and case-control studies were included. Exclusions were studies based on administrative databases, those that assessed care for a single disorder, those that evaluated acute and subacute care units, and those in which patients were admitted to the acute geriatric unit after three or more days of being admitted to hospital. Two investigators independently selected the studies and extracted the data.

results11 studies were included of which five were randomised trials, four non-randomised trials, and two case-control studies. The randomised trials showed that compared with older people admitted to conventional care units those admitted to acute geriatric units had a lower risk of functional decline at discharge (combined odds ratio 0.82, 95% confidence interval 0.68 to 0.99) and were more likely to live at home after discharge (1.30, 1.11 to 1.52), with no differences in case fatality (0.83, 0.60 to 1.14). The global analysis of all studies, including non-randomised trials, showed similar results.

conclusionsCare of people aged 65 or more with acute medical disorders in acute geriatric units produces a functional benefit compared with conventional hospital care, and increases the likelihood of living at home after discharge.

Indexed as

Activities of Daily LivingAcute DiseaseAgedCase-Control StudiesCosts and Cost AnalysisGeriatricsHome NursingHomes for the AgedHospitalizationHospital UnitsHumansPrognosisQuality Assurance, Health CareRandomized Controlled Trials as Topic

Identifiers

PMID19164393
PMCPMC2769066

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.