ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To determine the factors associated with general practitioners adherence to recommendations from geriatric assessments made during teleconsultations for the elderly living in nursing homes. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort study in three nursing homes in Vendee, France, with access to teleconsultations from Challans Hospital. Teleconsultations with geriatric assessment for which recommendations were made by a geriatrician (n=69). MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Participants were separated into two groups based on the evidence of general practitioners adherence to recommendations 30 days after teleconsultation. Their adherence has been defined by the application by themselves supporting the elderly of prescription or organization of all recommendations made by the geriatrician during the teleconsultation. The type of recommendations was pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments, and expert medical advice. The recorded data included the main reason of teleconsultation's request, age, sex, dementia diagnosis, multimorbidities scale, body mass index, Activities of Daily Living Scale, 4-items Geriatric Depression Scale, existence of a fall, and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. Logistic regressions were performed to examine the factors associated with general practitioners adherence to recommendations from the geriatric assessment. RESULTS: General practitioners adherence to recommendations was made for 58 teleconsultations (86.3%). A fully adjusted logistic regression showed that general practitioners adherence to recommendations was associated with risk of depressive syndrome (OR=8.00, P=0.040) and expert medical advice's recommendations (OR=17.97, P=0.040). CONCLUSIONS: General practitioners adherence to recommendations from the geriatric assessment made during teleconsultations for elderly living in nursing homes is associated with the risk of depressive syndrome's existence and the expert medical advice recommendations.
