Journal of epidemiology and community health
-
J Epidemiol Community Health · Apr 1997
Predicting the outcome in elderly patients of hospital admission for acute care in Paris, France: construction and initial validation of a simplex index.
To develop a simple index able to identify at an early stage those elderly patients at high risk of requiring discharge to a residential or nursing home after admission to hospital for acute care. For these patients, early discharge planning might lead to a more effective management and reduce the length of hospitalisation. ⋯ The simple index, using data available very early in the course of hospitalisation, provides an accurate prediction of the hospitalisation outcome. The performance of the index should be tested in other populations and the practical benefits of risk screening should be assessed in a controlled trial to evaluate whether the intervention is useful and without any adverse effects.