Impact of Systematic Tracking of Dementia Cases on the Rate of Hospitalization in Emergency Care Units (IDEM)

Toulouse University Hospital

Status

Completed

Conditions

Dementia in Nursing Home

Treatments

Other: MultiDisciplinary Team Meetings (MDTM)

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT01569997

2009-A01062-55 (Other Identifier)

0910701

Details and patient eligibility

About

Introduction: Epidemiological data show that in France only half of patients with Alzheimer disease are currently diagnosed in the general population. The absence of early diagnosis of dementia reduces the opportunities of patients to receive optimal care. One of the consequences of undiagnosed dementia is inadequate use of emergency care units.

The main objective: The main aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of a systematic case-finding procedure of dementia cases in nursing homes through a MDTM on the rate of hospitalization in emergency care units.

Secondary objectives:

To assess the impact of systematic tracking of dementia cases on the:

Quantity and quality of drug-prescription
Appropriateness of hospitalizations
Prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms
Dependency
Quality of life
Burden of nursing staff working conditions
Planning of specific therapeutic measures
Overall health care costs

Full description

This is a multicentre, cluster randomized study comparing two parallel groups:

Intervention group: nursing homes whose residents benefit from MDTM to identify the cases of dementia and to propose an adequate care project Control group: nursing homes whose residents continue to benefit from usual care In each group, 1000 elderly subjects aged over 60 years without documented diagnosis of dementia will be included and monitored for a period of 18 months.

Information about the main and secondary aims will be collected monthly through online questionnaires.

Enrollment

1,428 patients

Sex

All

Ages

60+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Residents of both sex, aged 60 years or over
Residents living in a nursing home participating in the study
Residents living in the nursing home for 30 days or more
Residents without diagnosed and documented dementia, identified as follows:
- residents not identified by the French Healthcare system as suffering from dementia (ALD 15)
- residents not benefiting from a specific care program or a specialized follow-up for dementia
- residents for whom there is no appropriate investigation for dementia diagnosis in medical records
- residents not taking specific drugs for dementia (Cholinesterase inhibitors and/or Memantine)
Residents and their GP having received information about the study
Residents and their GP having expressed their agreement to participate in the study

Exclusion criteria

Residents aged less than 60 years
Residents not living in a nursing home participating in study
Residents living in nursing home for less than 30 days
Residents with diagnosed and documented dementia, identified as follows:
- residents Identified by the French Healthcare system as suffering from dementia (ALD 15)
- residents benefiting from specific care programme or specialized follow-up for dementia
- residents for whom there is appropriate investigation for dementia diagnosis in medical records
- residents taking specific drugs for dementia (Cholinesterase inhibitors and/or Memantine)
Residents and/or their GP who received no information about the study
Residents and/or their GP having expressed their opposition to participate in the study