Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26059872›Full record

Trial reportScandinavian journal of primary health care2015

Can municipality-based post-discharge follow-up visits including a general practitioner reduce early readmission among the fragile elderly (65+ years old)? A randomized controlled trial.

Lau Caspar Thygesen, Sara Fokdal, Thomas Gjørup, Rod S Taylor, Ann-Dorthe Zwisler, Prevention of Early Readmission Research Group

Open access · goldAbstract readComparative StudyRandomized Controlled TrialPragmatic Clinical Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Scandinavian journal of primary health care, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
2.8field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
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

23 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.

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  19. Patient trajectories in a Norwegian unit of municipal emergency beds.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2017
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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

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Lau Caspar ThygesenNational Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark , Copenhagen , Denmark.
Sara Fokdal
Thomas Gjørup
Rod S Taylor
Ann-Dorthe Zwisler
Prevention of Early Readmission Research Group
University of Southern Denmark · DKHolbæk Sygehus · DK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo evaluate how municipality-based post-discharge follow-up visits including a general practitioner and municipal nurse affect early readmission among high-risk older people discharged from a hospital department of internal medicine. DESIGN AND

settingCentrally randomized single-centre pragmatic controlled trial comparing intervention and usual care with investigator-blinded outcome assessment.

interventionThe intervention was home visits with a general practitioner and municipal nurse within seven days of discharge focusing on medication, rehabilitation plan, functional level, and need for further health care initiatives. The visit was concluded by planning one or two further visits. Controls received standard health care services. PATIENTS: People aged 65 + years discharged from Holbæk University Hospital, Denmark, in 2012 considered at high risk of readmission.

main outcome measuresThe primary outcome was readmission within 30 days. Secondary outcomes at 30 and 180 days included readmission, primary health care, and municipal services. Outcomes were register-based and analysis used the intention-to-treat principle.

resultsA total of 270 and 261 patients were randomized to intervention and control groups, respectively. The groups were similar in baseline characteristics. In all 149 planned discharge follow-up visits were carried out (55%). Within 30 days, 24% of the intervention group and 23% of the control group were readmitted (p = 0.93). No significant differences were found for any other secondary outcomes except that the intervention group received more municipal nursing services.

conclusionThis municipality-based follow-up intervention was only feasible in half the planned visits. The intervention as delivered had no effect on readmission or subsequent use of primary or secondary health care services.

Indexed as

Continuity of Patient CareFrail ElderlyGeneral PractitionersHome Care ServicesHouse CallsPatient ReadmissionAgedAged, 80 and overDelivery of Health CareDenmarkFemaleHealth Services for the AgedHospitalsHumansIntention to Treat AnalysisMaleCommunity health nursingDenmarkfrail elderlypatient readmissionpopulation registerprimary health carequality of health carerandomized controlled trial

Identifiers

PMID26059872
PMCPMC4834505
OpenAlexW1857058695

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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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.