Medication Reviews Bridging Healthcare (MedBridge): Study protocol for a pragmatic cluster-randomised crossover trial
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 26, 2026

E-Patient Counseling Trial E-PACO: Computer Based Education versus Nurse Counseling for Patients to Prepare for Colonoscopy
Published on: August 1, 2019
Thomas G H Kempen1, Maria Bertilsson2, Karl-Johan Lindner3
1Pharmacy Department, Uppsala University Hospital, Ing.13 2 tr, 751 85 Uppsala, Sweden.
Background:
Mismanaged prescribing and use of medication among elderly puts major pressure on current healthcare systems. Performing a medication review, a structured critical examination of a patient's medications, during hospital stay with active follow-up into primary care could optimise treatment benefit and minimise harm. However, a lack of high quality evidence inhibits widespread implementation. This manuscript describes the rationale and design of a pragmatic cluster-randomised, crossover trial to fulfil this need for evidence.
Aim:
To study the effects of hospital-initiated comprehensive medication reviews, including active follow-up, on elderly patients' healthcare utilisation compared to 1) usual care and 2) solely hospital based reviews.
Design:
Multicentre, three-treatment, replicated, cluster-randomised, crossover trial.
Setting:
8 wards with a multidisciplinary team within 4 hospitals in 3 Swedish counties.
Participants:
Patients aged 65years or older, admitted to one of the study wards.
Exclusion Criteria:
Palliative stage; residing in other than the hospital's county; medication review within the last 30days; one-day admission.
Interventions:
1, comprehensive medication review during hospital stay; 2, same as 1 with the addition of active follow-up into primary care; 3, usual care.
Primary Outcome Measure:
Incidence of unplanned hospital visits during a 12-month follow-up period.
Data Collection And Analyses:
Extraction and collection from the counties' medical record system into a GCP compliant electronic data capture system. Intention-to-treat-analyses using hierarchical models.
Relevance:
This study has a high potential to show a reduction in elderly patients' morbidity, contributing to more sustainable healthcare in the long run.
More Related Videos
04:53A Clinical Trial Assessing the Safety, Efficacy, and Delivery of Olive-Oil-Based Three-Chamber Bags for Parenteral Nutrition
Published on: September 20, 2019
07:31Implementation of a Real-Time Psychosis Risk Detection and Alerting System Based on Electronic Health Records using CogStack
Published on: May 15, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Crossover Experiments
Crossover designs are performed even with smaller sample sizes since the samples can act as their controls. These are better than simple randomized trials since patients are exposed to all the treatments.
Bioequivalence Experimental Study Designs: Repeated Measures, Cross-Over, Carry-Over, and Latin Square Designs
Clinical Trials
There are four phases in a clinical trial. A phase one...
Bioavailability Study Design: Healthy Subjects Versus Patients
Blind Procedures
Clinical Trials: Overview