Citation

Murphy TE, Tinetti ME, Allore HG. Contemp. Clin. Trials 2008; 29(3): 343-350.

Affiliation

Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.cct.2007.10.004

PMID

18054289

PMCID

PMC2453244

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Evidence-based second stage translational studies are necessary and difficult to evaluate. A quasi-experimental design is used to compare the rate of fall-related health care utilization of two geographically disparate areas in Connecticut, a small state in the northeastern United States, to evaluate an intervention designed to reduce fall-related injuries among older persons. This evaluation examines the two years immediately prior to intervention. METHODS: The experimental units are postal (i.e., zip) code tabulation areas (ZCTAs) in which counts of fall-related health care utilization and demographic characteristics can be gathered from local and federal public health sources. We employ hierarchical modeling to determine whether there was a difference in fall-related health care utilization between the study arms prior to initiating the intervention. Geographic information systems are used to characterize neighboring ZCTAs and to graph model-adjusted rates of fall-related utilization. RESULTS: After adjustment for covariates and spatial variation, we observed no significant difference between rates or temporal trends of fall-related health care utilization in the study arms over the two year pre-intervention period. CONCLUSION: The study arms of the Connecticut Collaboration for Falls Prevention have equivalent rates and temporal trends of fall-related utilization over the two year pre-intervention period.

Language: en