Structured home visits to older people. Are they only of benefit for women? A randomised controlled trial.
Open Access
- 1 June 2004
- journal article
- clinical trial
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care
- Vol. 22 (2), 106-111
- https://doi.org/10.1080/02813430410005829
Abstract
Objective – To investigate whether education of primary care professionals improved functional ability in home-dwelling older people, with special focus on gender differences. Design – A prospective controlled three-year follow-up study (1999–2001) with randomisation and intervention at municipality level and outcomes measured at individual level. Intervention municipality visitors received regular education and GPs were introduced to a short assessment programme. Control municipalities received no education but conducted the preventive programme in their own way. Setting – Primary care, 34 municipalities. Subjects – 5788 home-dwelling 75- and 80-year-olds were invited. 4060 (70.1%) participated: 2104 in 17 intervention- and 1956 in 17 matched control-municipalities. The main outcome measure was obtained from 3383 (95.6%) of 3540 surviving participants. Main outcome measure – Functional ability. Results – Municipality intervention in coordination with GPs was associated with better functional ability in women (OR: 1.26; CI95: 1.08–1.47, p=0.004), but not in men (OR: 1.04; CI95: 1.85–1.27). Accepting and receiving free preventive home visits was associated with better functional ability among women (OR: 1.36; CI95: 1.16–1.60, p=0.0002), but not among men (OR: 0.98; CI95: 0.80–1.21). Conclusion – A brief, feasible educational intervention for primary care professionals and to accept and receive preventive home visits may have effect in older women, but not in older men.Keywords
This publication has 11 references indexed in Scilit:
- Care by general practitioners and district nurses of patients receiving home nursing: a study from suburban Stockholm.Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, 2002
- Are randomised controlled trials in the BMJ different?BMJ, 2001
- Effectiveness of home based support for older people: systematic review and meta-analysis Commentary: When, where, and why do preventive home visitsBMJ, 2001
- Preventive home visits for older people: defining criteria for success.Age and Ageing, 2001
- A Synthesis of Qualitative Home Visiting ResearchPublic Health Nursing, 2000
- A thorough going over: evidence for health assessments for older personsAustralian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 2000
- Same-Sex and Cross-Sex RelationshipsThe Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 1996
- Gender differences in the relationship between social network support and mortality: A longitudinal study of an elderly cohortSocial Science & Medicine, 1995
- The Timed “Up & Go”: A Test of Basic Functional Mobility for Frail Elderly PersonsJournal of the American Geriatrics Society, 1991
- Prevention of Relocation of the Aged in Nursing HomesScandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, 1984