Visit plan and standardised assessments of participants
| T0 (at day of discharge) | T1 (after 1 month) | T2 (after 3 months) | T3 (after 6 months*) | T4 (end of study visit*) | ||||||
| All participants (both groups) standardised assessments | CG | IG | CG (no visit) | IG | CG | IG | CG (no visit) | IG | CG | IG |
| Initial assessment of diagnoses and care situation as usual in hospital | x | x | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| TIGER basic anamnesis: | ||||||||||
| Hospital admission situation, and social, housing, care and medication situation | x | x | – | – | – | – | – | – | x | x |
| Initial assessment of domestic care situation at first visit at home (in IG between T0 and T1, in CG at T2), modified according to NBA† of31 | – | – | – | x | x | – | – | – | – | – |
| TIGER assessments: | ||||||||||
| Mobility assessment according to NBA†31 | x | x | – | x | x | x | – | x | x | x |
| Physical function: short physical performance battery39 | x | x | – | x | x | x | – | x | x | x |
| Nutrition status: mini nutritional assessment33 34 | x | x | – | x | x | x | – | x | x | x |
| Anthropometrics (weight and size) | x | x | – | x | x | x | – | x | x | x |
| Cognitive assessment: trail making test A and B40 | x | x | – | – | x | x | – | – | x | x |
| Handgrip strength via dynamometer (Jamar digital hand dynamometer, model number 081406453) | x | x | – | x | x | x | – | x | x | x |
| Pedometer assessment: activPAL3 micro (PAL Technologies), worn for 7 consecutive days | x | x | – | – | x | x | – | – | x | x |
| Geriatric assessment: | ||||||||||
| MMSE29 | x | x | – | x | x | x | – | x | x | x |
| Geriatric Depression Scale32 | x | x | – | x | x | x | – | x | x | x |
| Barthel Index41 | x | x | – | x | x | x | – | x | x | x |
| Timed up and go test42 | x | x | – | x | x | x | – | x | x | x |
| Instrumental ADL43 | x | x | – | x | x | x | – | x | x | x |
| Questionnaires for participants of both groups: | via mail | via mail | ||||||||
| Education and personal environment | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Health: medication, list of illnesses, health-related quality of life (Short Form 12-items health survey SF-1244) | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Fear of falling45–47 and physical activity | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Personal psychosocial resources regarding health (ie, coping with disease,48 self-perception of ageing49 and self-efficacy50) | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Weight, diet, appetite,51 food enjoyment52 and support at meals | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Wound-related quality of life53 | x | x | x | x | x | x | ||||
| Perceived stress54 and caregiver burden55 56 | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
*For participants with study duration of 9 months, the T4=end of study visit takes place 9 months after hospital discharge. For participants with study duration of 6 months, the T3 measurements taking place after 6 months is replaced by the T4=end of study visit measurements, but including all T3 assessments.
†The NBA is an assessment to determine eligibility for benefits from the long-term care insurance in Germany.31
ADL, activities of daily living; CG, control group; IG, intervention group; MMSE, Mini-Mental State Examination; NBA, Neues Begutachtungs Assessment; TIGER, Transsectoral Intervention Programme for Improvement of Geriatric Care in Regensburg.