title: Studies pertaining to the ACOVE quality criteria: a systematic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify and uniformly describe studies employing the Assessing Care Of Vulnerable Elders (ACOVE) quality indicators within a comprehensive thematic model that reflects how the indicators were used.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL was conducted.
  
  
  METHODS
  English-language studies meeting our criteria published prior to January 2010. Data extraction Included studies were analyzed and described by two independent researchers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 41 articles met our selection criteria. Studies were classified into the themes 'Application of indicators' (32 studies) and '
  
  
  METHODS
  and development of indicators' (13 studies). 'Application' studies included assessing quality of care, influencing behavior of health professionals and examining the association of quality of care with other factors. 'Analysis and development' included studies developing new indicator sets, and those adapting and validating the original quality indicators to new settings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The indicators were used in a wide range of applications with two main foci: the assessment of quality of care for elderly patients, and investigating the feasibility of similar indicators and their adaptation to new settings. Very few of the studies published to date have addressed the goal of care improvement. We foresee an important role for application of indicators that proactively help health-care professionals to deliver the right care at the right time, for example by resorting to decision support systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Informatics, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. m.askari@amc.uva.nl
authors.forename: Marjan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Askari
authors.forename: Peter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Wierenga
authors.forename: Saied
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eslami
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Medlock
authors.forename: Sophia E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: De Rooij
authors.forename: Ameen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abu-Hanna
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D035862:Vulnerable Populations