Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25340279›Full record

ArticleNPJ primary care respiratory medicine2014

A retrospective study of the impact of a telephone alert service (Healthy Outlook) on hospital admissions for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Christophe Sarran, David Halpin, Mark L Levy, Samantha Prigmore, Patrick Sachon

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in NPJ primary care respiratory medicine, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
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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.

Christophe SarranMet Office, Exeter, UK.
David HalpinRoyal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Exeter, UK.
Mark L LevyAllergy and Respiratory Research Group, Centre for Population Health Sciences: GP Section, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Samantha PrigmoreSt George's Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK.
Patrick SachonMet Office, Exeter, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHealthy Outlook is a service delivered by the UK Met Office directly to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that has been in place since 2006. Its objective is to reduce the severity and length of COPD exacerbations, hence improving the quality of life and life expectancy.

aimsTo assess the effect of the Healthy Outlook service on hospital admission rates of all general practitioners that have used the service.

methodsControl practices were selected for each of the 661 participating practices. The number of hospital admissions for each practice was extracted from the Hospital Episode Statistics database. The differences in admission rates per practice between the first year of use of the Healthy Outlook service and the previous year were compared by paired t-test analyses.

resultsFor admissions with a primary diagnosis of COPD, the difference between participating and control practices was -0.8% (95% confidence interval (CI)=-1.8 to 0.2%; P=0.13). For admissions with a primary or co-morbid diagnosis of COPD, the difference was -2.3% (95% CI=-4.2 to -0.4%; P=0.02).

conclusionsParticipation in the Healthy Outlook service reduces hospital admission rates for patients coded on discharge with COPD (including co-morbid).

Indexed as

Emergency Service, HospitalPulmonary Disease, Chronic ObstructiveTelephoneHumansPatient AdmissionRetrospective Studies

Identifiers

PMID25340279
PMCPMC4373472

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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.