ReviewInternational journal of emergency medicine2021
The effect of a telephone follow-up call for older patients, discharged home from the emergency department on health-related outcomes: a systematic review of controlled studies.
Review in International journal of emergency medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Transition of Care Between Emergency Department and Primary Care: An Integrative Systematic Review.Journal of clinical nursing · 2025Pooled it
- Evaluating phone call follow-ups in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Postdischarge Telephone Calls in Reducing Hospital Utilization: Quasi-Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Trial
- Program of intensive support in emergency departments for care partners of cognitively impaired patients: A randomized controlled trial.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Trial
- Telephone follow-up to reduce unplanned hospital returns for older emergency department patients: A randomized trial.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2021Trial
- Impact of telehealth on health outcomes and quality of life in the older adults population: a systematic review.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Review
- Implementation of a novel computer assisted telephone follow-up model for older patients after emergency department discharge in an Asian population.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2024Article
- Strategies for improving ED-related outcomes of older adults who seek care in emergency departments: a systematic review.International journal of emergency medicine · 2024Review
- End of life decisions and preference of place of death among geriatric and chronic disease patients: A scoping review.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2022Article
- Developing a pharmacist-led intervention to provide transitional pharmaceutical care for hospital discharged patients: A collaboration between hospital and community pharmacists.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2022Article
- Care transitions and social needs: A Geriatric Emergency care Applied Research (GEAR) Network scoping review and consensus statement.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOlder patients discharged from the emergency department (ED) are at increased risk for adverse outcomes. Transitional care programs offer close surveillance after discharge, but are costly. Telephone follow-up (TFU) may be a low-cost and feasible alternative for transitional care programs, but its effects on health-related outcomes are not clear.
aimWe systematically reviewed the literature to evaluate the effects of TFU by health care professionals after ED discharge to an unassisted living environment on health-related outcomes in older patients compared to controls.
methodsWe conducted a multiple electronic database search up until December 2019 for controlled studies examining the effects of TFU by health care professionals for patients aged ≥65 years, discharged to an unassisted living environment from a hospital ED. Two reviewers independently assessed eligibility and risk of bias.
resultsOf the 748 citations, two randomized controlled trials (including a total of 2120 patients) met review selection criteria. In both studies, intervention group patients received a scripted telephone intervention from a trained nurse and control patients received a patient satisfaction survey telephone call or usual care. No demonstrable benefits of TFU were found on ED return visits, hospitalization, acquisition of prescribed medication, and compliance with follow-up appointments. However, many eligible patients were not included, because they were not reached or refused to participate.
conclusionsNo benefits of a scripted TFU call from a nurse were found on health services utilization and discharge plan adherence by older patients after ED discharge. As the number of high-quality studies was limited, more research is needed to determine the effect and feasibility of TFU in different older populations. PROSPERO registration number CRD42019141403.
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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.