Patient reported outcomes in an elder-friendly surgical environment: Prospective, controlled before-after study

The Acute Care for the Elderly (ACE) model has demonstrated clinical benefit, but there is little evidence regarding quality of life after discharge. The Elder-friendly Approaches to the Surgical Environment (EASE) study was conducted to assess implementation of an ACE unit on an acute surgical service. Improved clinical and economic outcomes have been demonstrated, but post-discharge patient reported outcomes have not yet been reported.

Prospective, concurrently controlled, before-after study at two tertiary care hospitals in Alberta, Canada. The SF-12, EQ-5D, Canadian Malnutrition Screening Tool (CMST) and patient satisfaction were collected from elderly (≥ 65 years old) patients, 6 weeks and 6 months after discharge from an acute care surgical service. A difference-in-difference (DID) method was used to analyze between-site effects.

At six weeks, patient satisfaction was high at 68%-86%, with significant improvement Pre-to Post-EASE at the control site (p < 0.001), but not the intervention site (p = 0.06). For the intervention site, within-site adjusted pre-post effects were nonsignificant for all patient reported outcomes [EQ-Index Score β coefficient (SE): 0.042 (0.022); EQ-Visual Analog Scale: 0.10 (2.14); SF-12 Physical Component Score: -0.57 (0.84); SF-12 Mental Component Score: 1.17 (0.84); CMST Score: -0.39 (0.34)]. DID analyses were also non significant for all outcomes except for SF-12 Mental Component Score (p < 0.001).

The clinically and economically beneficial EASE interventions do not appear to compromise quality of life, risk for malnutrition, or patient satisfaction in the post-discharge period. Further research with larger sample size is needed with comparisons to pre-intervention and the early post-discharge period.