Table 3.
Outcomes, measurements and metrics for the evaluation of potential benefits and safety of the expand-care intervention
| Outcome | Specific measurement | Specific metric | Time point | ||
| t0 | t1 | t2 | |||
| Distal outcomes (extracted from residents’ record) | |||||
| Hospital admissions (primary outcome) | No of admissions | Within 3 months | X | X | X |
| No of hospital days | Within 3 months | X | X | X | |
| Reason for admission, initiator, discharge diagnosis | Within 3 months | X | X | X | |
| Out-of-hour physician contacts | No of contacts | Within 3 months | X | X | X |
| No of contacts | Within 3 months | X | X | X | |
| Kind of contacts: telephone, visit to nursing home | Within 3 months | X | X | X | |
| Reason for admission, initiator | Within 3 months | X | X | X | |
| Emergency service use | No of service utilisations | Within 3 months | X | X | X |
| Kind of services used: (emergency) ambulance, emergency control centre, emergency room | Within 3 months | X | X | X | |
| Distal outcomes (self-reported by resident or proxy assessment by nursing staff) | |||||
| Health-related quality of life | EuroQol-5 Dimension-5 Level | At the day of data collection | X | X | |
| Proximal outcomes (data extracted from residents’ records) | |||||
| Falls and fall-related injuries | No of falls and fall-related injuries | Within 3 months | X | X | X |
| Pressure ulcer category ≥2 | No of newly developed pressure ulcers per category | Within 3 months | X | X | X |
| Incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD) | No of newly developed IAD | Within 3 months | X | X | X |
| Potentially inappropriate medication | Prescribed medication and dosage, evaluated according to PRISCUS criteria | Current medication | X | X | X |
| Contacts with GP | Kind of contact (remote via fax, phone or other electronic form, visit in nursing home or GP office) | Within 3 months | X | X | X |
| Reason for contact, initiator | Within 3 months | X | X | X | |
| Planned versus unplanned | Within 3 months | X | X | X | |
| Proximal outcomes (self-reported by resident) | |||||
| Symptom burden | Four-dimensional Symptom Questionnaire Dimensions: distress, depression, anxiety, somatisation |
Within the last 7 days | X | X | |
| Self-care/health behaviour and management | LTCQ-8, German version | Within the last 4 weeks | X | X | |
| Person-centredness of care | PCQ-P-G, Dimensions: safety climate and everyday living climate | X | X | ||
| Safety outcomes (harms) (data extracted from residents’ records) | |||||
| All-cause mortality | Death (date, reasons) | Within 3 months | X | X | |
| Level of care | Current level of care based on the Nursing Care Insurance Act (Sozialgesetzbuch XI) | Current level | X | X | X |
| Resource use (data extracted from residents’ records) | |||||
| Other healthcare utilisation | FIMA categories of resource use (eg, medical specialists, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, rehabilitation) | Within 3 months | X | X | X |
FIMA, (Fragebogen zur Inanspruchnahme medizinischer und nicht-medizinischer Versorgungsleistungen im Alter) Questionnaire for Health-Related Resource Use in an Elderly; GP, general practitioner; LTCQ-8, Long-Term Conditions Questionnaire Short Form; PCQ-P-G, Person-centred Climate Questionnaire-Patient version; PRISCUS, List of potentially inadequate medication for elderly people.