ArticleBMC family practice2017
Promoting independence, health and well-being for older people: a feasibility study of computer-aided health and social risk appraisal system in primary care.
Article in BMC family practice, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interventions for reducing sedentary behaviour in community-dwelling older adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Recognizing Structural and Social Determinants of Health in the Diagnosis and Care of Dementia.Dementia (London, England) · 2026Article
- Digital Health Technologies for Screening and Identifying Unmet Social Needs: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Technology-Based Solutions for Combating Loneliness and Isolation in Geriatric Care: A Narrative Review.Clinics in geriatric medicine · 2025Review
- A framework for elderly participation in Primary Health Care in Tabriz Health complexes.BMC geriatrics · 2023Article
- Primary care-based interventions addressing social isolation and loneliness in older people: a scoping review.BMJ open · 2022Article
- Psychometric Properties of the Self-Healing Assessment Scale for Community-Dwelling Older Adults.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Global functionality and associated factors in the older adults followed by Home Care in Primary Health Care.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2021Article
- Usability and utility of eHealth for physical activity counselling in primary health care: a scoping review.BMC family practice · 2020Article
- Engaging 'hard to reach' groups in health promotion: the views of older people and professionals from a qualitative study in England.BMC public health · 2019Article
- Proactive approaches to identifying dementia and dementia risk; a qualitative study of public attitudes and preferences.BMJ open · 2018Article
- Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundWith population ageing, research is needed into new low-cost, scalable methods of effective promotion of health and wellbeing for older people. We aimed to assess feasibility, reach and costs of implementing a new tailored computer-aided health and social risk appraisal system in primary care.
methodsDesign: Feasibility study.
settingFive General Practices in London (Ealing) and Hertfordshire, United Kingdom (UK) Participants: Random sample of patients aged 65 + years.
interventionThe Multi-dimensional Risk Appraisal for Older people (MRA-O) system includes: 1) Postal questionnaire including health, lifestyle, social and environmental domains; 2) Software system generating a personalised feedback report with advice on health and wellbeing; 3) Follow-up of people with new concerning or complex needs by GPs or practice nurses. EVALUATION: Feasibility of implementation; participant wellbeing, functional ability and quality of life; social needs, health risks, potential lifestyle changes; and costs of implementation.
resultsResponse rates to initial postal invitations were low (526/1550, 34%). Of these, 454/526 (86%) completed MRA-O assessments. Compared to local UK Census data on older people, participants were younger, more were owner-occupiers and fewer were from ethnic minority groups than expected. A range of problems was identified by participants, including pain in last week (269/438, 61.4%), low physical activity (173/453, 38.2%), sedentary lifestyle (174/447, 38.3%), falls (117/439, 26.7%), incontinence (111/441 25.2%), impaired vision 116/451 (25.7%), impaired hearing (145/431, 33.6%), depressed mood (71/451, 15.7%), impaired memory (44/444 9.9%), social isolation (46/449, 10.2%) and loneliness (31/442, 7.0%). Self-rated health was good/excellent in 312/437 (71.4%), and quality of life and well-being were slightly above age-specific population norms. Implementation costs were low. Practices reviewed medical records of 143/454 (31.5%) of participants as a consequence of their responses, and actively followed up 110/454 (24.2%) of their patients.
conclusionsA computer-aided risk appraisal system was feasible for General Practices to implement, yields useful information about health and social problems, and identifies individual needs. Participation rates were however low, particularly for the oldest old, the poorest, and ethnic minority groups, and this type of intervention may increase inequalities in access. Widespread implementation of this approach would require work to address potential inequalities.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.