Preventive home visits to promote the health-related quality of life of home-dwelling older people: Baseline findings and feasibility of a randomized, controlled trial

Abstract

Background and aimsStudies on multiprofessional preventive home visits to older people are needed. We describe here the baseline findings and feasibility of a randomized controlled study on preventive home visits delivered by a multiprofessional team. Materials and methodsParticipants (n=422) were home-dwelling people who were 75+years old. They were recruited from the Hyvinkää municipal area. They were randomized into intervention and control groups. Participants in the intervention group received three home visits, delivered by a nurse, physiotherapist and social worker. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL), measured by 15D, was used as our primary outcome measurement. Feedback on the intervention was gathered from the participants. ResultsThe mean age of our participants was 81years. They scored 0.82 in the 15D HRQoL score, and 65% were female. The findings of both groups were similar in most background variables. The only differences between the groups were that lower proportions of participants in the intervention group had diabetes or used a walker. The professionals delivering the intervention reported that all intervention procedures had been delivered according to plan. Participants who responded to the feedback survey mostly reported having gained new information and were fairly content with the intervention. However, most participants felt the home visits had not improved their health or functioning. ConclusionsWe have successfully randomized participants into two study groups in this trial examining the effectiveness of preventive home visits. The intervention seems feasible and has mostly been well received.