Impact of An Emergency Response System on Anxiety and Health-Care Use

NCT00330720 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: 205-2002PSIF Grant #02-13
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 80
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

What to do after an elderly patient falls but is not seriously injured can be a very challenging decisions for the patient and the Emergency Physician. Unfortunately, homecare support is often unavailable for weeks. The patient and physician must then choose between discharge home without support, or hospitalization. An emergency response service (ERS) allows the patient to summon assistance from anywhere in their home, and may provide another option. Objectives: To see how an ERS affects patients' anxiety, fear of falling, and use of the health-care system after discharge. We will study patients over 70 years of age who have fallen but do not need to be hospitalized. Our belief is that the ERS will improve patient anxiety, and may prevent return visits to the Emergency or episodes of prolonged immobilization after a fall. Methods: Patients agreeing to participate in the study will be assigned by chance to receive either current standard discharge care, or standard care plus the use of the emergency response system. Patients will be interviewed one month after discharge to compare the impact of the ERS. This study is a first step in deciding whether the ERS is a useful new technology.

Conditions

Anxiety; Falls; Fear of Falling

Keywords

Personal Emergency Response System; Anxiety; Fear of Falling; RCT

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Anxiety measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, at 1 month

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Fear of Falling, using Falls Efficacy Scale at 1 month

• Proportion who Returned to the Emergency Department by 2 months

• Proportion who are Hospitalized by 2 months

• Length of Stay by 2 months, in Days.

Interventions

Emergency Response System (Device) DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 70 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Age greater than or equal to 70 years.
• Primary complaint of a fall and discharged home directly from the Emergency Department -

You may not qualify if:

• Admitted to hospital
• Not independently living
• No Phone Line
• Unable to give informed consent
• Living outside geographic catchment area -

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre: lead
• The Physicians' Services Incorporated Foundation: collaborator
• Lifeline: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center

Toronto, Ontario, M4S 3M5, Canada

Location

Related Publications (20)

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MeSH Terms

Conditions

Anxiety Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Jacques S. Lee, MD

  Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 26, 2006
• First Posted: May 29, 2006
• Study Start: November 1, 2002
• Study Completion: June 1, 2004
• Last Updated: May 29, 2006

Record last verified: 2004-09

Locations

CA (1)