NCT03246035

Reducing Readmission for Frail Elderly Patients With Decompensated Heart Failure

A Prospective Randomized Pilot Trial to Reduce Readmission for Frail Elderly Patients With Acute Decompensated Heart Failure

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 60 (actual)
• Sponsor: Jewish General Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

A randomized study designed to determine whether telephone based interventions can prevent return hospital visits for elderly and frail patients with acute symptoms of heart failure. Specifically, the intervention will improve patients ability to monitor and address self care of heart failure at home.

Detailed description

Acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) is a common illness in Canadian emergency departments (ED). The frail subset of elderly patients with ADHF is challenging to treat, use a large proportion of available resources, and are at higher risk for complications, including readmission to hospital after discharge. The investigators believe that by improving access to follow-up, optimizing self-care, and addressing the various cognitive and physical limitations of frailty, it will be possible to improve quality of life and reduce readmission rates for frail patients with ADHF.

Conditions

• Heart Failure
• Acute Decompensated Heart Failure
• Fragility
• Emergencies

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Intervention Group	For the intervention arm, a specialized heart failure nurse practitioner will contact the patient or their primary caregiver by telephone within 5 days post-discharge and send them an education packet by mail. During the telephone call, the nurse will (1) confirm the patient's scheduled follow-up appointment in cardiology, (2) provide recommendations for heart failure self-care behaviors that were found to be deficient at baseline. Patients will then be referred to a Geriatrics Assessment Team, who will provide individualized recommendations for frailty domains that were found to be deficient at baseline. The technique used to provide educational recommendations will be motivational interviewing.
OTHER	Control Group (Standard Care)	For patients randomized to the Control Group (Standard Care), they will receive their follow-up visits, medications, diet and physical activity advice as they normally would. This is the care they would receive even if they were not enrolled in the study

Timeline

• Start date: 2018-03-01
• Primary completion: 2021-03-01
• Completion: 2022-03-01
• First posted: 2017-08-11
• Last updated: 2022-10-14

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada