RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Hospital admissions are frequent among long-term residents of nursing homes and can result in detrimental complications affecting the patients' somatic, psychological, and cognitive status. In this prospective controlled study, we investigated the effects of a mobile geriatric consultant service (GECO) offered by specialists in internal medicine on frequency of hospitalizations in nursing home residents. METHODS: During a 10-month observation period, residents in a control nursing home received medical attendance by general practitioners as is common in Austrian nursing homes. Residents in the intervention nursing home also received the medical service of GECO. RESULTS: Within the group of rest home residents receiving GECO support, a statistically significant lower frequency of acute transports to hospitals was observed in comparison to residents of the control nursing home (mean number of acute transports to hospitals/100 residents/month: 6.1 versus 11.7; p < 0.01). The number of planned non-acute hospital and specialist office presentations was also lower in the intervention nursing home (mean number of hospital and specialist office presentations/100 residents/month: 14.4 versus 18.0); however, this difference did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION: This study shows that a mobile medical geriatric consultant service based on specialists in internal medicine can improve medical care in nursing homes resulting in a statistically significant reduction of acute transports to hospitals.