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Roberto Bernabei a Istituto di Medicina Interna e
Geriatria, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy, b Center for Gerontology and Health
Care Research, Department of Community Health, Brown University Medical
School, Providence, RI 02912, USA, c Geriatric Research, Education and
Clinical Center, UCLA School of Medicine, Sepulveda, CA 91343, USA
Correspondence to: Dr Bernabei md0516{at}mclink.it
Objective: To evaluate the impact of a programme of
integrated social and medical care among frail elderly people living in
the community.
Design: Randomised study with 1 year follow up.
Setting: Town in northern Italy (Rovereto).
Subjects: 200 older people already receiving
conventional community care services.
Intervention: Random allocation to an intervention
group receiving integrated social and medical care and case management or to a control group receiving conventional care.
Main outcome measures: Admission to an institution,
use and costs of health services, variations in functional status.
Results: Survival analysis showed that admission to
hospital or nursing home in the intervention group occurred later and
was less common than in controls (hazard ratio 0.69; 95% confidence interval 0.53 to 0.91). Health services were used to the same extent,
but control subjects received more frequent home visits by general
practitioners. In the intervention group the estimated financial
savings were in the order of £1125 ($1800) per year of follow up.
The intervention group had improved physical function (activities of
daily living score improved by 5.1% v 13.0% loss in
controls; P<0.001). Decline of cognitive status (measured by the short
portable mental status questionnaire) was also reduced (3.8%
v 9.4%; P<0.05).
Conclusion: Integrated social and medical care with
case management programmes may provide a cost effective approach to
reduce admission to institutions and functional decline in older people
living in the community.
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