Vidar Halsteinli

Comprehensive geriatric care for patients with hip fractures: a prospective, randomised, controlled trial

BACKGROUND Most patients with hip fractures are characterised by older age (>70 years), frailty, and functional deterioration, and their long-term outcomes are poor with increased costs. We compared the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of giving these patients comprehensive geriatric care in a dedicated geriatric ward versus the usual orthopaedic care. METHODS We did a prospective, single-centre, randomised, parallel-group, controlled trial. Between April 18, 2008, and Dec 30, 2010, we randomly assigned home-dwelling patients with hip-fractures aged 70 years or older who were able to walk 10 m before their fracture, to either comprehensive geriatric care or orthopaedic care in the emergency department, to achieve the required sample of 400 patients. Randomisation was achieved via a web-based, computer-generated, block method with unknown block sizes. The primary outcome, analysed by intention to treat, was mobility measured with the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) 4 months after surgery for the fracture. The type of treatment was not concealed from the patients or staff delivering the care, and assessors were only partly masked to the treatment during follow-up. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00667914. FINDINGS We assessed 1077 patients for eligibility, and excluded 680, mainly for not meeting the inclusion criteria such as living in a nursing home or being aged less than 70 years. Of the remaining patients, we randomly assigned 198 to comprehensive geriatric care and 199 to orthopaedic care. At 4 months, 174 patients remained in the comprehensive geriatric care group and 170 in the orthopaedic care group; the main reason for dropout was death. Mean SPPB scores at 4 months were 5·12 (SE 0·20) for comprehensive geriatric care and 4·38 (SE 0·20) for orthopaedic care (between-group difference 0·74, 95% CI 0·18-1·30, p=0·010). INTERPRETATION Immediate admission of patients aged 70 years or more with a hip fracture to comprehensive geriatric care in a dedicated ward improved mobility at 4 months, compared with the usual orthopaedic care. The results suggest that the treatment of older patients with hip fractures should be organised as orthogeriatric care. FUNDING Norwegian Research Council, Central Norway Regional Health Authority, St Olav Hospital Trust and Fund for Research and Innovation, Liaison Committee between Central Norway Regional Health Authority and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the Department of Neuroscience at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research at the Norwegian Institute of Technology (SINTEF), and the Municipality of Trondheim.

Occupational rehabilitation programs for musculoskeletal pain and common mental health disorders: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundLong-term sick leave has considerably negative impact on the individual and society. Hence, the need to identify effective occupational rehabilitation programs is pressing. In Norway, group based occupational rehabilitation programs merging patients with different diagnoses have existed for many years, but no rigorous evaluation has been performed. The described randomized controlled trial aims primarily to compare two structured multicomponent inpatient rehabilitation programs, differing in length and content, with a comparative cognitive intervention. Secondarily the two inpatient programs will be compared with each other, and with a usual care reference group.Methods/designThe study is designed as a randomized controlled trial with parallel groups. The Social Security Office performs monthly extractions of sick listed individuals aged 18–60 years, on sick leave 2–12 months, with sick leave status 50% - 100% due to musculoskeletal, mental or unspecific disorders. Sick-listed persons are randomized twice: 1) to receive one of two invitations to participate in the study or not receive an invitation, where the latter “untouched” control group will be monitored for future sick leave in the National Social Security Register, and 2) after inclusion, to a Long or Short inpatient multicomponent rehabilitation program (depending on which invitation was sent) or an outpatient cognitive behavioral therapy group comparative program. The Long program consists of 3 ½ weeks with full rehabilitation days. The Short program consists of 4 + 4 full days, separated by two weeks, in which a workplace visit will be performed if desirable. Three areas of rehabilitation are targeted: mental training, physical training and work-related problem solving. The primary outcome is number of sick leave days. Secondary outcomes include time until full sustainable return to work, health related quality of life, health related behavior, functional status, somatic and mental health, and perceptions of work. In addition, health economic evaluation will be performed, and the implementation of the interventions, expectations and experiences of users and service providers will be investigated with different qualitative methods.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01926574.

Implementing mental health economic evaluation evidence: Building a bridge between theory and practice

Background: Interest in economic evaluation to support strategic decision-making for mental health policy has increased, but the capacity for such analysis remains limited. Aims: To reflect on challenges faced in the production of economic evaluations and the extent to which they are used for mental health policy across Europe. Method: A bespoke questionnaire and literature review were used to collect information on the use of economic evaluation in 17 European countries. Results: The number of evaluations for mental health continues to grow; albeit their quality is patchy. Most concentrate on medications; there are few evaluations outside the health and social care sector. Simple cost-effectiveness analyses dominate, with much less use of cost-utility or cost-benefit analysis. Few have been subject to economic evaluation as part of reimbursement procedures for new drugs and other interventions. Conclusions: There is much scope for practical and methodological development, in particular on outcome measurement and the evaluation of complex non-health system interventions. The variable quality of evaluations suggests that work to build capacity for both their conduct and interpretation is needed. Initiatives such as MHEEN might help promote understanding of the potentially powerful role that can be played by economic evaluation. Declaration of interest: The Mental Health Economics European Network Phase I was supported by a grant (SPC.2002397) from the European Commission, Health and Consumer Protection Directorate. There are no conflicts of interest.

Productivity growth in outpatient child and adolescent mental health services: the impact of case-mix adjustment.

The performance of health service providers may be monitored by measuring productivity. However, the policy value of such measures may depend crucially on the accuracy of input and output measures. In particular, an important question is how to adjust adequately for case-mix in the production of health care. In this study, we assess productivity growth in Norwegian outpatient child and adolescent mental health service units (CAMHS) over a period characterized by governmental utilization of simple productivity indices, a substantial increase in capacity and a concurrent change in case-mix. We analyze the sensitivity of the productivity growth estimates using different specifications of output to adjust for case-mix differences. Case-mix adjustment is achieved by distributing patients into eight groups depending on reason for referral, age and gender, as well as correcting for the number of consultations. We utilize the nonparametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method to implicitly calculate weights that maximize each units efficiency. Malmquist indices of technical productivity growth are estimated and bootstrap procedures are performed to calculate confidence intervals and to test alternative specifications of outputs. The dataset consist of an unbalanced panel of 48-60 CAMHS in the period 1998-2006. The mean productivity growth estimate from a simple unadjusted patient model (one single output) is 35%; adjusting for case-mix (eight outputs) reduces the growth estimate to 15%. Adding consultations increases the estimate to 28%. The latter reflects an increase in number of consultations per patient. We find that the governmental productivity indices strongly tend to overestimate productivity growth. Case-mix adjustment is of major importance and governmental utilization of performance indicators necessitates careful considerations of output specifications.

Health service costs and clinical gains of psychotherapy for personality disorders: a randomized controlled trial of day-hospital-based step-down treatment versus outpatient treatment at a specialist practice

BackgroundDay-hospital-based treatment programmes have been recommended for poorly functioning patients with personality disorders (PD). However, more research is needed to confirm the cost-effectiveness of such extensive programmes over other, presumably simpler, treatment formats.MethodsThis study compared health service costs and psychosocial functioning for PD patients randomly allocated to either a day-hospital-based treatment programme combining individual and group psychotherapy in a step-down format, or outpatient individual psychotherapy at a specialist practice. It included 107 PD patients, 46% of whom had borderline PD, and 40% of whom had avoidant PD. Costs included the two treatment conditions and additional primary and secondary in- and outpatient services. Psychosocial functioning was assessed using measures of global (observer-rated GAF) and occupational (self-report) functioning. Repeated assessments over three years were analysed using mixed models.ResultsThe costs of step-down treatment were higher than those of outpatient treatment, but these high costs were compensated by considerably lower costs of other health services. However, costs and clinical gains depended on the type of PD. For borderline PD patients, cost-effectiveness did not differ by treatment condition. Health service costs declined during the trial, and functioning improved to mild impairment levels (GAF > 60). For avoidant PD patients, considerable adjuvant health services expanded the outpatient format. Clinical improvements were nevertheless superior to the step-down condition.ConclusionOur results indicate that decisions on treatment format should differentiate between PD types. For borderline PD patients, the costs and gains of step-down and outpatient treatment conditions did not differ. For avoidant PD patients, the outpatient format was a better alternative, leaning, however, on costly additional health services in the early phase of treatment.Trial registrationClinical Trials NCT00378248

Cross-country comparisons of health-care costs: The case of cancer treatment in the Nordic countries

The objective of this study is to perform a cross-country comparison of cancer treatment costs in the Nordic countries, and to demonstrate the added value of decomposing documented costs in interpreting national differences. The study is based on individual-level data from national patient and prescription drug registers, and data on cancer prevalence from the NORDCAN database. Hospital costs were estimated on the basis of information on diagnosis-related groups (DRG) cost weights and national unit costs. Differences in per capita costs were decomposed into two stages: stage one separated the price and volume components, and stage two decomposed the volume component, relating the level of activity to service needs and availability. Differences in the per capita costs of cancer treatment between the Nordic countries may be as much as 30 per cent. National differences in the costs of treatment mirror observed differences in total health care costs. Differences in health care costs between countries may relate to different sources of variation with different policy implications. Comparisons of per capita spending alone can be misleading if the purpose is to evaluate, for example, differences in service provision and utilisation. The decomposition analysis helps to identify the relative influence of differences in the prevalence of cancer, service utilisation and productivity.

Treatment Intensity in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and Health Care Reform in Norway, 1998–2006

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to assess trends in treatment intensity in outpatient child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in Norway from 1998 to 2006. During this period, Norway experienced substantial growth in available CAMHS resources. In 2002 hospital ownership was recentralized and health enterprises were established. METHODS A nonexperimental, interrupted time-series design was used to estimate trends adjusted for patient case mix and CAMHS size. From a panel of 37 CAMHS units, two subsamples were extracted. These patients (N=94,173) were aged 0-17 years and had participated in at least one treatment session with a therapist (direct consultation) during the year of observation. Direct and indirect consultations (appointments with cooperating services) were separately analyzed with multilevel regression analyses. RESULTS Patient-level factors were the main sources of variation in number of consultations. CAMHS unit size was positively associated with direct consultations in both subsamples. A trend of increased direct consultations was observed in one subsample. Comparing the period 2002-2006 with 1998-2001 revealed a positive shift in treatment intensity for both consultation types in both subsamples. Trends and shifts differed between patient groups according to the main reason for referral and gender. CONCLUSIONS The main health policy objective during the study period was increased access to mental health treatment. Both access and treatment intensity increased. The study was inconclusive about whether incentives related to CAMHS performance measurement caused treatment intensity to increase, specifically after the 2002 hospital ownership reform.

Camp-based family treatment of childhood obesity: randomised controlled trial

Objective To compare the effectiveness of a 2-year camp-based family treatment programme and an outpatient programme on obesity in two generations. Design Pragmatic randomised controlled trial. Setting Rehabilitation clinic, tertiary care hospital and primary care. Patients Families with at least one child (7–12 years) and one parent with obesity. Interventions Summer camp for 2 weeks and 4 repetition weekends or lifestyle school including 4 days family education. Behavioural techniques motivating participants to healthier lifestyle. Main outcome measures Children: 2-year changes in body mass index (BMI) SD score (SDS). Parents: 2-year change in BMI. Main analyses: linear mixed models. Results Ninety children (50% girls) were included. Baseline mean (SD) age was 9.7 (1.2) years, BMI 28.7 (3.9) kg/m2 and BMI SDS 3.46 (0.75). The summer-camp children had a lower adjusted estimated mean (95% CI) increase in BMI (−0.8 (−3.5 to −0.2) kg/m2), but the BMI SDS reductions did not differ significantly (−0.11 (−0.49 to 0.05)). The 2-year baseline adjusted BMI and BMI SDS did not differ significantly between summer-camp and lifestyle-school completers, BMI 29.8 (29.1 to 30.6) vs 30.7 (29.8 to 31.6) kg/m2 and BMI SDS 2.96 (2.85 to 3.08) vs 3.11 (2.97 to 3.24), respectively. The summer-camp parents had a small reduction in BMI (−0.9 (−1.8 to −0.03) vs −0.8 (−2.1 to 0.4) in the lifestyle-school group), but the within-group changes did not differ significantly (0.3 (−1.7 to 2.2)). Conclusions A 2-year family camp-based obesity treatment programme had no significant effect on BMI SDS in children with severe obesity compared with an outpatient family-based treatment programme. Trial registration number NCT01110096.

One-year health and care costs after hip fracture for home-dwelling elderly patients in Norway: Results from the Trondheim Hip Fracture Trial

Aim: The aim of this study was to estimate the one-year health and care costs related to hip fracture for home-dwelling patients aged 70 years and older in Norway, paying specific attention to the status of the patients at the time of fracture and cost differences due to various patient pathways after fracture. Methods: Data on health and care service provision were extracted from hospital and municipal records and from national registries; data on unit costs were collected from the municipalities, hospital administrations and previously published studies. Four different patient pathways were identified and the total costs for subgroups of patients according to age, sex, fracture type and instrumental activity of daily living at fracture incidence were calculated. Descriptive statistics were used to identify cost estimates. Results: The mean total one-year costs per patient were EUR 68,376 and the costs for patients alive one year after hip fracture were EUR 71,719. The patients’ age and pre-fracture functional status contributed most to the total cost. Conclusions: On average, care costs accounted for more than 50% of the total cost; even for patients with good functional status before hip fracture, care costs accounted for 40% of the total cost compared with hospital costs of 38%. To reduce the financial costs of hip fractures in the care sector, the results point to the importance of preventive programmes to reduce the risk of hip fracture, but also to the importance of comprehensive geriatric care in the initial phase after a hip fracture.

Telephone follow-up in an occupational rehabilitation programme – a randomised controlled trial

SamenvattingTransfer from on-site rehabilitation to the participant’s daily environment is considered a weak link in the rehabilitation chain. Various follow-up regimes have been implemented after multidisciplinary rehabilitation, however, consensus is lacking on recommended content, duration and intensity.