[Monitoring a home care cohort].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate home care by primary care teams for people over 65 years old with chronic conditions, in order to identify improvement opportunities. To identify patient and care variables associated with cognitive and functional impairment, nursing home admission, attendance at casualty units, hospital admission and death.


METHODS
Analytic study of the follow-up of a cohort for 3 years.


METHODS
Primary health care teams in Catalonia, Spain.


METHODS
One thousand three hundred patients over 65 with chronic pathologies and cared for by home care programmes in Catalonia.


METHODS
The following will be recorded annually: health status (Charlson, Barthel, Pfeiffer, Braden, and Gijón), data on the carer (Zarit), care received (social and health), self-perception of health (SF-12), Casualty attendance, short-term admissions and the final results, i.e. death or definitive admission to a nursing home or hospital. The statistical analyses will be based on logistic regression and a survival analysis.


CONCLUSIONS
The study should reveal patient characteristics with prognostic value, as well as identify the social and health factors related to better survival and lower consumption of health and social resources.
Gené Badia
Joan
J
CAPSE Consorci d'Atenció Primària de Salut de l'Eixample, Barcelona, España. jgene@clinic.ub.es
Hidalgo García
Antonio
A
Contel Segura
Joan Carles
JC
Borràs Santos
Alicia
A
Ortiz Molina
Jacinto
J
Martín Royo
Jaume
J
García Planas
Noemí
N
Heras Tebar
Antonio
A
Noguera Rodríguez
Ramon
R
Borrell Muñoz
Manuel
M
Farràs Salles
Cristina
C
Porta Borges
Montserrat
M
Oliver Olius
Anna
A
Rivas Zuazo
Sonia
S
Aranzana Martínez
Antonio
A
Cegri Lombardo
Francisco
F
Limón Ramírez
Esther
E
Adell Aguiló
Núria
N
Camprubí Casellas
Maria Dolors
MD
D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care; D012107:Research Design; D013030:Spain