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Cost effectiveness of preventive home visits to the elderly

Economic evaluation alongside randomized controlled study

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Abstract

We evaluated the cost effectiveness of preventive home visits to elderly persons in Denmark alongside a 3-year randomized controlled study. The main outcome measure was incremental costs per active life-year gained. The number of active life-years was defined as those during which the person is able independently to transfer, walk indoors, go outdoors, walk outdoors in both pleasant and poor weather, and climb stairs. In 17 of 34 municipalities health visitors and general practitioners were offered geriatric training, which focused on early signs of disability, physical activity, and interdisciplinary follow-up. The remaining 17 municipalities offered preventive home visits as usual. Outcomes were measured in 4,034 persons aged 75 or 80 years old and dwelling at home. The difference in mean total costs between the intervention and the control group discounted at 3% was €−856 (95% CI −2,455 to 744) in 75-year-olds and €694 (−2,684 to 4,071) in 80-year-olds. The discounted difference in mean active life-years was 0.034 (−0.058 to 0.125) and 0.197 (0.013 to 0.380), respectively. The study did not provide conclusive evidence on the cost effectiveness of the programs under consideration.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants form the Danish Medical Research Council, Research Foundation for General Practice and Primary Care, Eastern Danish Research Forum, County Value-Added Tax Foundation, and Ministry of Social Affairs. We thank Eva Jepsen, Lisbeth Willemoes Sørensen, and Annette Johannesen for help in following up the questionnaires, and all participating municipalities. We are indebted to Christian Cato Holm for data management and development of the municipality registration software. The study was approved by the regional scientific ethics committees and by the Danish Data Protection Agency.

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Author notes

  1. Christian Kronborg

    Present address: Health Economics, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, J.B. Winslowsvej 9, 5000, Odense C, Denmark

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Christian Kronborg

  2. Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

    Mikkel Vass & Kirsten Avlund

  3. Department of Economics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Jørgen Lauridsen

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  1. Christian Kronborg
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  2. Mikkel Vass
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  3. Jørgen Lauridsen
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  4. Kirsten Avlund
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Correspondence to Christian Kronborg.

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Kronborg, C., Vass, M., Lauridsen, J. et al. Cost effectiveness of preventive home visits to the elderly. Eur J Health Econ 7, 238–246 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-006-0361-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-006-0361-2

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