BMC Geriatrics (Feb 2023)

Local, collaborative, stepped, and personalized care management for older people with chronic diseases – results from the randomized controlled LoChro-trial

  • Gloria Metzner,
  • Lukas Maximilian Horstmeier,
  • Jürgen Bengel,
  • Eva Maria Bitzer,
  • Elena Dreher,
  • Fabian Frank,
  • Anne Göhner,
  • Bernhard Heimbach,
  • Ines Himmelsbach,
  • Klaus Kaier,
  • Jasmin Kiekert,
  • Katharina Kohler,
  • Katharina Laubner,
  • Lisa Lyssenko,
  • Andy Maun,
  • Christoph Maurer,
  • Claudia Salm,
  • Jochen Seufert,
  • Sebastian Voigt-Radloff,
  • Erik Farin-Glattacker

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-023-03797-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 23, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Abstract Background In the aging population of Western societies, an increasing number of older adults have multiple chronic diseases. As multifaceted health problems imply the involvement of several healthcare professionals, multimorbid older people frequently face a fragmentation of health care. Addressing these challenges, we developed a local, collaborative, stepped, and personalized care management approach (LoChro-Care) and evaluated its effectiveness. Methods A two-group, parallel randomized controlled trial was conducted comparing LoChro-Care recipients (IG) to participants with usual care (CG). Patients aged 65 + with chronic conditions were recruited at inpatient and outpatient departments of the Medical Center, University of Freiburg. Participants were allocated using block randomization (nIG = 261, nCG = 263). LoChro-Care comprised individualized care provided by chronic care managers with 7 to 13 contacts over 12 months. Questionnaires were given at 3 time points (T0: baseline, T1: after 12 months, T2: after 18 months). The primary outcome was the physical, psychological, and social health status represented by a composite score of functional health and depressive symptoms. Secondary outcomes were the participants’ evaluation of their health care situation, health-related quality of life (HRQL), and life-satisfaction (LS). The data were analyzed using linear mixed modelling. Results We analyzed N = 491 participants (nIG = 244, nCG = 247), aged M = 76.78 years (SD = 6.35). For the composite endpoint, neither a significant difference between IG and CG (p = .88) nor a group-time interaction (p = .52; p = .88) could be observed. Participants in both groups showed a significant decline on the primary outcome between T0 and T2 (p < .001). Post hoc analyses revealed a decline in both functional health (p < .001) and depressive symptoms (p = .02). Both groups did not differ in their evaluation of their health care situation (p = .93), HRQL (p = .44) or LS (p = .32). Relevant confounding variables were female gender and multimorbidity. Conclusion Supporting patients’ self-management in coordinating their individual care network through LoChro-Care did not result in any significant effect on the primary and secondary outcomes. A decline of functional health and depressive symptoms was observed among all participants. Potential future intervention adaptations are discussed, such as a more active case management through direct referral to (in-)formal support, an earlier treatment initiation, and the consideration of specific sociodemographic factors in care management planning. Trial registration German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS): DRKS00013904 (02.02.2018), https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00013904

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