title: Risk assessment tools to predict location of discharge and need for supportive services for medical patients after discharge from hospital: a systematic review protocol.
abstract: Patients who are discharged from hospital after an acute medical illness often have impaired function that prevents them from returning to their previous place of residence. Assessing each patient's post-discharge needs takes time and resources but is important in order to reduce unplanned readmissions and adverse events post-discharge.
  
  
  
  We will conduct a systematic review to synthesize the evidence on prognostic models and their reported accuracy in predicting the location of discharge after a medical admission to an acute care hospital. We will perform searches in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and COCHRANE databases. Pre-defined study, population, and model characteristics will be reported. We will write a narrative summary of included studies. Methodological quality of the studies will be assessed using the QUIPS tool, and the quality of evidence will be evaluated using the GRADE tool.
  
  
  
  Early and accurate assessment of patient needs for supportive services after discharge has the potential to improve patient outcomes and health system efficiency. This systematic review will identify factors that can accurately predict location of discharge using existing tools and identify priority knowledge gaps to inform future research.
  
  
  
  PROSPERO CRD42016037144.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine-The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. dkobewka@toh.on.ca.|Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Ottawa Hospital, Civic Campus, 1053 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Canada. dkobewka@toh.on.ca.
authors.forename: Daniel M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Kobewka
authors.affiliation: Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.|Performance Measurement, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McIsaac
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Laval University, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Michaël
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chassé
authors.affiliation: Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.|School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.|Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Kednapa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thavorn
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine-The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Sunita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mulpuru
authors.affiliation: Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Luke T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Lavallée
authors.affiliation: Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Shane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: English
authors.affiliation: Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.|School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Presseau
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine-The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.|Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.|Performance Measurement, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.|Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Forster
mesh_terms: D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009735:Nursing Homes; D010351:Patient Discharge; D010359:Patient Readmission; D012046:Rehabilitation; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D000078202:Systematic Reviews as Topic