Abstract
The objective was to investigate whether a 3-year educational intervention towards primary health care professionals had effect on change in tiredness in daily activities during a 3-year intervention period in non-disabled older adults. The design was a controlled 3-year intervention study in 34 Danish municipalities with randomization and intervention at municipality level. The 17 intervention municipality visitors received regular education and general practitioners were introduced to a short assessment program. The effect was measured among old non-disabled individuals living in the municipalities by a validated scale on tiredness in daily activities at baseline and at the end of the intervention period. In total 2,515, 75- and 80-year-old men and women participated in all parts of the present study. Eighty-year-old non-disabled men and women who lived in the control municipalities had larger odds ratios of sustained tiredness during the 3-year intervention period compared with 80-year-olds living in intervention municipalities where both GPs and home visitors participated in the educational programme (OR = 3.48; 95% CI 1.51–8.00) and in intervention municipalities where only the home visitors (OR = 2.63; 95% CI 0.97–7.12) were educated. The intervention had no effect on stability and change in tiredness among the 75-year-old men and women. A brief, feasible educational intervention for primary care professionals has beneficial effect on changes in feelings of tiredness in non-disabled 80-year-old men and women.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by grants from the Danish Medical Research Council, the Research Foundation for General Practice and Primary Care, Eastern Danish Research Forum, the County Value-Added Tax Foundation and the Danish Ministry of Social Affairs. We thank all participating municipalities and Eva Jepsen for following up questionnaires.
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Avlund, K., Vass, M. & Hendriksen, C. Education of preventive home visitors: the effects on change in tiredness in daily activities. Eur J Ageing 4, 125–131 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-007-0058-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-007-0058-0