Elderly persons in the risk zone

"Elderly persons in the risk zone" is a health-promoting and preventive intervention study. The intention was that the study group should comprise a representative sample of pre-frail 80-year old persons still living at home in two municipalities of Gothenburg: The participants should live in their ordinary housing and not be dependent on the municipal home help service or care. Further, they should be independent of help from another person in activities of daily living and be cognitively intact, having a score of 25 or higher as assessed with the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE).

The participants were randomised to three study groups: two intervention groups and one control group.
- Intervention A; Senior meetings and one follow-up home visit
- Intervention B; Preventive home visit
- Control group

459 persons were included in the study, 171 in intervention A, 174 in intervention B and 114 in the control group. All participants received a first visit that comprised an interview, assessment and observation. The first visit, i.e.the baseline interview, was performed in the participant's home by research assistants well trained in interviewing, assessing and observing according to the guidelines for the different outcome measurements. Follow-up data were collected in all groups at 3 months, 1 year and 2 years after intervention, also in the participant's home by well trained research assistants.

Purpose:

The intervention study aimed to prove the following two hypotheses:
1) If an intervention is made when the elderly persons are not so frail, it is possible to prevent/delay deterioration; 2) A multi-dimensional and multi-professional intervention is more effective than preventive home visits alone.

The dataset includes the participants in the two intervention groups and in the control group, a total of 459 participants. The baseline intervention was carried out between January 2008 and December 2010, and follow ups at 3 months, 1 year and 2 years.