Geriatrician-performed Comprehensive Geriatric Care in an Outpatient Community Rehabilitation Unit

Introduction: Older adults with multiple illnesses represent the fastest growing sector of society and make increasing demands on all sectors of the health care system, particularly in outpatient community rehabilitation units due to shorter time of stay in acute care units and hospitals. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of geriatrician-performed comprehensive geriatric care (CGC) in older people referred to an outpatient community rehabilitation unit. Methods: The study is a prospective randomized controlled trial. Settings: two community care rehabilitation units in Aarhus Municipality, Denmark. Inclusion: persons aged 65 and older from home or hospital. Exclusion: persons who received palliative care or had been assessed by a geriatrician during the past month. Intervention: medical history, physical examination, blood tests, medication adjustment and related treatments performed by a geriatrician. Control: usual care in a community rehabilitation unit. Number of hospital admissions and emergency department (ED) visits (primary outcome), number of GP contacts, activities of daily living, physical and cognitive functioning, quality of life, data on institutionalization, medication status, and mortality are assessed at day 30 and 90 after arrival at the rehabilitation unit. Project status: The outpatient CGC model is developed, implemented and compared with usual care in a pragmatic RCT.