Trial reportPloS one2024
The cost effectiveness of early assessment and intervention by a dedicated health and social care professional team for older adults in the emergency department compared to treatment-as-usual: Economic evaluation of the OPTI-MEND trial.
Trial report in PloS one, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03739515 (A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial Exploring the Impact of a Dedicated Health and Social Care Professionals), which is not on this map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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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.
A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial Exploring the Impact of a Dedicated Health and Social Care Professionals (HSCP) Team in the Emergency Department on the Quality, Safety and Cost-effectiveness of Care for Older Adults
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Trial
- Feasibility of Telephone-Based Cognitive Assessments and Healthcare Utilization in US Medicare-Enrolled Older Adults Following Emergency Department Discharge.International journal of geriatric psychiatry · 2025Article
- Characterising the role and scope of Community Connectors for Older Adults Internationally: A Scoping Review Protocol.HRB open research · 2025Article
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOver 65s are frequent attenders to the Emergency Department (ED) and more than half are admitted for overnight stays. Early assessment and intervention by a dedicated ED-based Health and Social Care Professionals (HSCP) team reduces ED length of stay and the risk of hospital admissions among older adults while improving patient health-related quality-of-life and satisfaction with care. This study aims to evaluate whether augmenting the treatment as usual for older adults admitted to ED is cost-effective. METHODS AND
findingsCost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), conducted alongside the OPTI-MEND randomised controlled trial of 353 patients aged ≥65 with lower urgency complaints compared the effectiveness of early assessment and intervention by a dedicated HSCP team in the ED to treatment as usual (TAU). An economic analysis estimated the average cost per older adults randomised to the HSCP team, and compared to TAU, how contact with HSCP team changed health care use, and associated total costs, and estimated the effect of HSCP on Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs). Within the OPTI-MEND trial, the average cost of a contact with the HSCP team during ED attendance is estimated to be €801 per patient. Compared to TAU, the incremental QALY of intervention is 0.053 (95% CI: 0.023 to 0.0826, p<0.0001). Accounting for cost savings because of contact with HSCP team, the average incremental saving in the total cost, compared to TAU, is -€6,128 (95% CI: -€9,217 to -€3,038, p<0.0001). Given the incremental health gains and significant cost savings, bootstrapped cost CEA suggests that dedicated HSCP care dominates over TAU for low urgency older adults attending the ED.
conclusionsA dedicated HSCP team in the ED significantly improves overall health for lower acuity older adults and, by reducing inpatient length of stay, results in staggering cost savings. This economic evaluation conducted on the OPTI-MEND trial provides convincing evidence that HSCP should be adopted as part of treatment as usual in Irish EDs.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03739515; registered on 12th November 2018. https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03739515.
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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.