title: Effect of Continuity of Care on Quality of Life in Older Adults With Chronic Diseases: A Meta-Analysis.
abstract: As the population ages, continuity of care (CoC) has increasingly become a particular important issue. Articles published from 1994 to 2014 were identified from electronic databases. Studies with randomized controlled design and elderly adults with chronic illness were included if Short Form-36 (SF-36) was used as an outcome indicator to evaluate the effect of CoC. Seven studies were included for analysis with the sum of 1,394 participants. The results showed that CoC intervention can significantly improve physical function, physical role function, general health, social function, and vitality of QoL for elderly people with chronic disease.
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute of Allied Health Sciences College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan.|2 Cheng Ching Hospital, Taichung City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsiao-Mei
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Statistics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Hsuan
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Nursing, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ching-Min
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
keywords: chronic disease; continuity of care; elderly; quality of life