Care transition of older adults from hospital to home

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the quality of care transition of older adults who were discharged from hospital to home. Methods: This is a cross-sectional observational study, conducted with 156 older adults after public hospital admission, located in the municipality of Piracicaba, state of São Paulo. Data were collected in patients’ electronic medical records and by telephone calls with older adults, their relatives and/or caregivers, up to four weeks after hospital discharge. We used a questionnaire with sociodemographic data and the Care Transitions Measure, version validated for Brazil. Results: The mean duration of the last hospitalization was 8.27 days, mostly caused (72.44%) by COVID-19 and 75% of older adults had between 1 and 3 comorbidities, with hypertension (57.7%) being the most frequent. The mean CTM-15 score was 68.6. Factor 1, Management preparation, obtained the highest score (70.5), and Factor 4, Care plan, the lowest (59.14). There was a positive correlation between the 4 factors of Care Transitions Measure, also among these factors is the number of drugs used to treat older adults, according to the Anatomical Chemical Therapeutic Classification. Conclusion: We evidenced the quality of the transition of care in the hospital close to the value considered satisfactory, with two of the four factors with a score greater than 70; however, there is a need to adopt strategies to improve the discharge process from hospital to home, especially with regard to preferences imported and care plan for older adults.