title: Support from hospital to home for elders: a randomized trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hospitals are implementing discharge support programs to reduce readmissions, and these programs have had mixed success.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine whether a peridischarge, nurse-led intervention decreased emergency department (ED) visits or readmissions among ethnically and linguistically diverse older patients admitted to a safety-net hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomized, controlled trial using computer-generated randomization with 1:1 allocation, stratified by language. (Clinical Trials.gov: NCT01221532).
  
  
  METHODS
  Publicly funded urban hospital in Northern California.
  
  
  METHODS
  Hospitalized adults aged 55 years or older with anticipated discharge to the community who spoke English, Spanish, or Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese).
  
  
  METHODS
  Usual care versus in-hospital, one-on-one, self-management education given by a dedicated language-concordant registered nurse combined with a telephone follow-up after discharge from a nurse practitioner.
  
  
  METHODS
  Staff blinded to the study groups determined ED visits or readmissions to any facility at 30, 90, and 180 days after initial hospital discharge using administrative data from several hospitals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 700 low-income, ethnically and linguistically diverse patients with a mean age of 66.2 years (SD, 9.0). The primary outcome of ED visits or readmissions did not differ between the intervention and usual care groups (hazard ratio, 1.26 [95% CI, 0.89 to 1.78] at 30 days, 1.21 [CI, 0.91 to 1.62] at 90 days, and 1.11 [CI, 0.86 to 1.43] at 180 days).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study was done at a single acute-care hospital. There were fewer outcomes than expected, which may have caused the study to be underpowered.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A nurse-led, in-hospital discharge support intervention did not show a reduction in readmissions or ED visits among diverse, low-income older adults at a safety-net hospital. Although wide CIs preclude firm conclusions, the intervention may have increased ED visits. Alternative readmission prevention strategies should be tested in this population.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
authors.forename: L Elizabeth
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Goldman
authors.forename: Urmimala
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kessell
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guzman
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schneidermann
authors.forename: Edgar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pierluissi
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Walter
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vittinghoff
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Critchfield
authors.forename: Margot
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kushel
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002140:California; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services; D006786:Hospitals, Urban; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009732:Nursing Care; D010351:Patient Discharge; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011203:Poverty; D064876:Safety-net Providers