Effectiveness of case management in the prevention of COPD re-admissions: a pilot study

BMC Research Notes

Table 2 Differences in COPD hospitalizations, CCQ and MRC scores before and after the case management period

Outcome	Usual care	Case management	Mean difference	P value
Hospitalizations, rate per year	3.4 (2.6–4.5)	1.5 (0.9–2.5)	2.25 (1.3 to 3.9)^a	0.004
Duration of hospitalization, days	7.49 (5.8–9.2)	7.53 (5.1–10.0)	0.04 (− 1.7 to 1.8)	0.961
Total days in hospital per patient per year	26 (17.2–34.8)	12.3 (5.3–19.4)^b	− 13.7 (− 24.5 to − 2.8)	0.013
CCQ total score	3.3 (2.8–3.8)	2.4 (1.9–2.8)^c	− 1.0 (− 1.6 to − 0.4)	0.001
CCQ: symptoms domain	3.3 (2.6–3.9)	2.5 (2.0–3.0)^c	− 0.7 (− 1.3 to − 0.2)	0.009
CCQ: functional domain	4.1 (3.5–4.6)	2.8 (2.2–3.3)^c	− 1.3 (− 2.1 to − 0.6)	0.001
CCQ: mental domain	2.0 (0.9–3.1)	1.2 (0.5–1.9)^c	− 0.8 (− 1.8 to 0.2)	0.117
MRC	4.3 (3.7–4.9)	3.9 (3.2–4.6)^c	− 0.4 (−0.9 to 0.1)	0.114

Values are presented as means (95% confidence interval), unless stated otherwise
CCQ Clinical COPD Questionnaire, MRC Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale
^aRate ratio
^bOne patient included who died after 3 months; value multiplied by 4
^cMean value after 20 weeks of case management, includes last measurements of deceased patient (after 8 weeks) and of dropped-out patient (after 12 weeks)

ISSN: 1756-0500