Cost-effectiveness of an innovative four-year post-discharge programme for elderly patients--prospective follow-up of hospital and nursing home use in project elderly and randomized controls.

The cost-effectiveness of a post-discharge programme on the use of hospital care and the continuity of care was assessed in an elderly cohort (n = 204) discharged from the city hospital. The participation rate was 97.6%, and the patients were aged 75 years or over and lived alone. The randomized controls (n = 204) received standard aftercare. During the follow-up the costs of university hospital care decreased by 52% in the intervention group and by 24% in the control group per patient year, compared with the costs in the year preceding the project. This happened despite the higher morbidity in the intervention group in terms of fractures and the use of university hospital care in the year preceding the project. There was also a tendency in the intervention group for the previous non-users of university hospital care to remain non-users during the follow-up. The costs of city hospital care increased by 16% and 5%, and of all hospital care by 1.3% and 0.2%, respectively. There were no differences in admissions to permanent care in the nursing homes. The intervention group did not make their first contact with the hospitals or permanent care in nursing homes earlier than the control group during the follow-up. The co-operation between hospital and domiciliary care and voluntary workers was well-suited to the innovative care of the elderly people.

Diseases and symptoms as predictors of hospital care in an aged population. A prospective register-based study.

The association between diseases and symptoms and general hospital care was studied in a geographically defined population of 1040 persons aged 65 years or over (90% of the eligible non-institutionalized elderly). In eight years, 25% of the subjects used over 60 hospital bed-days. In age-controlled analyses high use of hospital care was predicted by chronic urinary infections and in women also by chronic bronchitis, diabetes mellitus and heart failure. Among men, the risk of high use of hospital care was greatest in those reporting chronic urinary infection (risk ratio 1.9), and among women in those reporting chronic bronchitis (2.1) and diabetes (2.0). As far as symptoms were concerned, the highest risks of hospital care were found in men reporting tremor (risk ratio 1.6) and depressive symptoms (1.5); and in women reporting memory disturbances and dizziness (risk ratios 1.9 and 1.7, respectively). High use of care was predicted by six symptoms in men and seven in women. Reported symptoms proved to be better predictors of high use of hospital care than reported diagnoses.