Quality accounts require a statement on how good a provider's data quality is. Mark Davies and Iain Carpenter discuss why clinicians are central to making it as good as it can be.

Poor organisation and partial or inaccurate completion of clinical notes can cause problems ranging from frustration to litigation. Despite this, no country has processes in place to regulate record-keeping across medical facilities. In our Guest Editorial, Iain Carpenter, Mala Bridgelal Ram, and John G. Williams contemplate how new initiatives in the UK to standardise recording of clinical details could not only improve patient health care but also perhaps fill the gaps in the evidence not answered by RCTs.

The article offers information on an assessment tool that can create reports on residents in care homes. The Minimum Data Set Resident Assessment Instrument, MDS/RAI, for Long Term Care Facilities is stated to be a comprehensive, standardized assessment of residents' needs in longterm care developed by interRAI, which is an international collaboration of practitioners and researchers committed to improving the care of vulnerable populations. It was first implemented in the U.S. in the 1990s.

The article presents the author's views on the need for proper assessment tool to frame healthcare policies for older people in Great Britain. He says that such a tool that is scientifically developed can accurately records data on abilities and needs and would help the government to formulate adequate policies.

Background: The present cross-sectional study was aimed to evaluate the association between care recipient depression and caregiver attitudes. Methods: Data were from The AgeD in HOme Care project, a study enrolling subjects aged >= 65 years receiving home care in Europe. Depression was diagnosed as a score >= 3 on the MDS Depression Rating Scale. Caregiver attitudes were assessed using two measures: 1) caregiver dissatisfaction (the caregiver was dissatisfied with the support received from family and friends); and 2) caregiver distress (the caregiver expressed feelings of distress, anger, or depression). Results: Mean age of 3415 participants was 82.4 years, 2503 (73.3%) were women and 430 (12.6%) were depressed. Dissatisfaction was significantly more common among caregivers of depressed, compared with those of non depressed patients (32/ 430, 7.4% vs. 78/2985, 2.6%; p=<0.001). After adjusting for potential confounders, patient depression was still significantly associated with caregiver dissatisfaction (OR: 1.84; 95% Cl: 1. 12-3.03). Similarly, distress was significantly more common among caregivers of depressed patients, compared with those of non depressed patients (81/430, 18.8% vs. 175/2985, 5.9%; p<0.001). After adjusting for potential confounders, patient depression was still significantly associated with caregiver distress (OR: 2.41; 95% Cl: 1.72-3.39). Limitations: The cross-sectional design of the study cannot provide the cause-effect relationship between depression and caregiver attitude; no data were collected on caregiver characteristics. Conclusions: Among older adults depression is associated with increased caregiver dissatisfaction and distress. Knowledge of factors influencing caregiver attitudes may be valuable to study interventions aimed to promote patient and caregiver well being.

Background and aims: The increase in the proportion of elderly people and a consequent increase in the demand for care have caused healthcare systems to become overloaded. This paper describes the use of Home Care Quality Indicators (HCQIs), derived from the Minimum Data Set for Home Care, for monitoring quality of care. Research questions were, "Do HCQI scores vary between home care organizations in different countries?" and "Are one or more country-specific sites consistently scoring better on most or all HCQIs"? Methods: a cross-sectional observational study of 65+ randomly selected clients of home care organizations in urban areas in 11 European countries who had been receiving home care for at least two weeks. Data were collected with the MDS-HC. The scoring of 16 prevalent quality indicators for home care, adjusted for population differences, was calculated with baseline data. Results: Population size at baseline was 4,007 clients. Among home care clients in Europe, 11 rehabilitation potential in Activities of Daily Living and no therapies" (average 75.9%) and "inadequate pain control" were the most common quality problems. The prevalence between populations studied in various countries varied substantially. No country-specific site consistently scored worst or best. Conclusions: HCQIs derived from the MDS-HC detect variance in quality scores between home care in the 11 partner countries. The highest prevalence of unwanted outcomes were most often found in the Czech Republic, Italy and Germany. Although further research is necessary, we believe that HCQIs may be of great value for quality improvement in home care.

The structure of medical records becomes ever more critical with the advent of electronic medical records. The Health Informatics Unit (HIU) of the Royal College of Physicians has two work streams in this area. The Record Standards Programme is developing generic standards for all entries into medical notes and standards for the content of admission, handover and discharge records. The Information Laboratory (iLab) focuses on Hospital Episode Statistics and their use for monitoring clinician performance. Clinician endorsement of the work is achieved through extensive consultations. The Generic Medical Record Keeping Standards are published in this issue of Clinical Medicine.

Aim of the present observational study was to evaluate the association between daily pain and incident disability in elderly subjects living in the community. We used data from the AgeD in Home Care (AD-HOC) project, a I year longitudinal study enrolling subjects aged 65 or older receiving home care in I I European countries. Daily pain was defined as any type of pain or discomfort in any part of the body manifested every day in the seven days before the baseline assessment. Disability performing activities of daily living (ADLs) was defined as the need of assistance in I or more of the following ADL eating, dressing, transferring, mobility in bed, personal hygiene and toileting. Mean age of 1520 subjects participating the study was 82.1 (standard deviation 6.9) years, and 1178 (77.5%) were women and 695 (45.7%) reported daily pain at the baseline assessment. Overall, 123/825 participants (19.0%) with daily pain and 132/695 (14.9%) without daily pain reported incident disability during the I year follow up of the study. After adjustment for potential confounders, participants with daily pain had a significantly higher risk of developing disability, compared with other participants (hazard ratio 1.36; 95% CI: 1.05-1.78). The risk of disability increased with pain severity and with number of painful sites. In conclusion among old subjects living in the community, daily pain is associated with an increased risk of disability. (c) 2006 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Objectives: The aims of the study were to describe the prevalence of physical activity in a sample of older adults in home care in Europe and to examine the relationship between physical activity and incident disability. Study Design and Setting: Study population consisted of a random sample of 2,005 subjects aged 65 or older admitted to home care programs in 11 European Home Health Agencies who participated in AgeD in Home Care project. Participants who reported spending 2 or more hours of physical activities in last 3 days were defined physically active. Disability performing activities of daily living was defined as the need of assistance in one or more of the following ADL eating, dressing, transferring, mobility in bed, personal hygiene, and toileting. Results: More than 50% of participants were physically active. During a median follow-up of 12 months, 370 subjects (15%) became disabled. After adjusting for age, gender, and other possible confounding variables, active subjects were significantly less likely to become disabled compared to those reporting no or very low-intensity physical activity (OR, 0.67; 95% CI 0.53-0.84). Conclusions: These findings support the possibility that physical activity has an independent effect on functional autonomy among frail and old people.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the relationship between a case management approach and the risk of institutionalization in a large European population of frail, old people in home care. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Eleven European countries. PARTICIPANTS: Three thousand two hundred ninety-two older adults receiving home care (mean age 82.3 +/- 7.3). MEASUREMENTS: Data on nursing home admission were collected every 6 months for 1 year. RESULTS: One thousand one hundred eighty-four (36%) persons received a home care program based on case management, and 2,108 (64%) received a traditional care approach (no case manager). During the 1-year follow-up, 81 of 1,184 clients (6.8%) in the case management group and 274 of 2,108 (13%) in the traditional care group were admitted to a nursing home (P <.001). After adjusting for potential confounders, the risk of nursing home admission was significantly lower for participants in the case management group than for those in a traditional care model (adjusted odds ratio=0.56, 95% confidence interval=0.43-0.63). CONCLUSION: Home care services based on a case management approach reduce risk of institutionalization and likely lower costs.

Objectives: to assess whether measures of cognitive and physical function can explain differences in observed and healthcare resource group (HRG) predicted length of stay for patients presenting with six target conditions at admission. Design: prospective observational study. Setting: three East Kent district general hospitals. Participants: One thousand nine hundred and forty-two consecutive emergency admissions, from March to July 2004, with one or more of six presenting conditions (stroke, fracture neck of femur, myocardial infarction, acute respiratory infection, chronic obstructive airways disease and falls). Main Outcome Measures: length of stay by physical and cognitive function score adjusted for HRG allocated at discharge and other covariates. Physical function was defined using Activities of Daily Living Hierarchy Scale and cognitive function using the Cognitive Performance Scale. Results: median difference between observed and HRG predicted length of stay was 1.2 days (25th percentile estimate, 3.9; 75th percentile estimate, 10.1) for patients with high physical dependency. They stayed 40% longer (95% confidence interval 26-56%) than patients with lower physical dependency after excluding effects of HRG and other covariates. Results are not consistent for cognitive function scores, mainly because most patients had no cognitive impairment. Conclusions: these patients, presenting with conditions common in older patients, would have incurred estimated annual costs of 1.9 pound million in excess of their HRG tariff-based re-imbursement. Physical function, defined by the degree of dependency in activities of daily living, should be incorporated into HRGs to reduce the financial risk faced by acute hospital services under Payment by Results, the UK diagnosis related group re-imbursement system.

Medical records are at the heart of good patient care and an essential component of understanding what went wrong and if things do go awry.

Purpose: To propose an integration index of home care delivery to older persons, to study its validity and to apply it to home care services of European cities. Theory: Home care delivery integration was based on two dimensions referring to process-centred integration and organisational structure approach. Method: Items considered as part of both dimensions according to an expert consensus (face validity) were extracted from a standardised questionnaire used in "Aged in Home care" (AdHoc) study to capture basic characteristics of home care services. Their summation leads to a services' delivery integration index. This index was applied to AdHoc services. A factor analysis was computed in order to empirically test the validity of the theoretical constructs. The plot of the settings was performed. Results: Application of the index ranks home care services in four groups according to their score. Factor analysis identifies a first factor which opposes working arrangement within service to organisational structure bringing together provisions for social care. A second factor corresponds to basic nursing care and therapies. Internal consistency for those three domains ranges from 0.78 to 0.93. When plotting the different settings different models of service delivery appear. Conclusion: The proposed index shows that behind a total score several models of care delivery are hidden. Comparison of service delivery integration should take into account this heterogeneity.

Background: This study examined factors associated with the receipt of influenza vaccination among Ontario home care clients. Methods: Home care clients were assessed, as part of a routine home visit, during a pilot study of the Resident Assessment Instrument - Home Care (RAI-HC) in 12 Ontario Community Care Access Centres (CCACs). The RAI-HC is a multidimensional assessment that identifies clients' needs and level of functional ability. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with influenza immunization in the two years prior to assessment. Results: The overall rate of immunization reached about 80% by 2002. Factors such as age, respiratory problems, diabetes and congestive heart failure were associated with greater uptake, but overall rates of influenza immunization were lower than expected. Low education, smoking and poor medication adherence were negatively associated with influenza immunization. In addition, there was considerable variation in uptake among CCACs after adjusting for other significant individual-level independent variables. Interpretation: Comprehensive assessments like the RAI-HC can be used to help identify and respond to health promotion and disease prevention issues in this population, and to compare rates across Canada.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine crossnationally the prevalence of indicators of elder abuse and their relationship to putative risk factors, particularly depression, dementia, and lack of service provision. Method: Nearly 4,000 people aged 65+ receiving health or social community services in 11 European countries were interviewed using the minimum dataset homecare (MDS-HC) interview, which includes an abuse screen used previously in elder abuse studies and questions about demographic, physical, psychiatric, cognitive, and service factors. Results: One hundred seventy-nine (4.6%) people assessed had at least one indicator of abuse. The proportion screening positive increased with severity of cognitive impairment, presence of depression, delusions, pressure ulcers, actively resisting care, less informal care, expressed conflict with family or friends, or living in Italy or Germany, but not with having a known psychiatric diagnosis. Conclusion: Severity of cognitive impairment, depression, and delusions predicted screening positive for abuse in older adults, but having a known psychiatric diagnosis did not, indicating that screening for psychiatric morbidity might be rational strategies to combat elder abuse. People in Italy and Germany were most likely to screen positive for indicators of abuse, and the authors suggest that this might relate to higher levels of dependency in the participants looked after at home in these countries as a result of cultural and service provision differences.

Background The objective of this study was to assess the responsiveness of the Minimum Data Set Activities of Daily Living (MDS-ADL) Scale to change over time by examining the change in physical function in adults with moderate to severe dementia with no comorbid illness who had been resident in a nursing home for over 90 days. Methods Longitudinal data were collected on nursing home residents with moderate (n = 7001) or severe (n = 4616) dementia in one US state from the US national Minimum Data Set (MDS). Severity of dementia was determined by the MDS Cognitive Performance Scale (CPS). Physical function was assessed by summing the seven items (bed mobility, transfer, locomotion, dressing, eating, toilet use, personal hygiene) on the MDS activities of daily living (ADL) Long Form scale. Mean change over time of MDS-ADL scores were estimated at three and six months for residents with moderate (CPS score of 3) and severe (CPS score of 4 or 5) dementia. Results Physical function in residents with moderate cognitive impairment deteriorated over six months by an average of 1.78 points on the MDS-ADL Long Form scale, while those with severe cognitive impairment declined by an average of 1.70 points. Approximately one quarter of residents in both groups showed some improvement in physical function over the six month period. Residents with moderate cognitive impairment experienced the greatest deterioration in early-loss and mid-loss ADL items (personal hygiene, dressing, toilet use) and residents with severe cognitive impairment showed the greatest deterioration in activities related to eating, a late loss ADL. Conclusion The MDS-ADL Long Form scale detected clinically meaningful change in physical function in a large cohort of long-stay nursing home residents with moderate to severe dementia, supporting its use as a research tool in future studies.

Background. Population of seniors in the Czech Republic consumes more than 35 % of all prescribed medications. Currently, Czech seniors take on the average 4–5 prescribed drugs. However, our knowledge about factors influencing drug compliance is scarce particularly in seniors with polypharmacotherapy. Non-compliance can contribute to treatment failure and increases the risk of adverse drug reactions. The aim of the study is to compare drug compliance in the elderly in 11 European countries and to assess the impact of demographic and drug-related factors on noncompliance to medication. Methods and Results. Cross-sectional comparative study in 3881 elderly subjects living in the community receiving home-care services in 11 European countries participating in ADHOC (Aged in Home Care) study. In the sample of Czech subjects we performed in-depth analysis of causes and factors associated with non-compliance in patients with polypharmacotherapy. 12.5% (n=456) of European seniors were non-compliant with prescribed medication with significantly higher prevalence of non-compliance in the CR (33.5 %) and Germany (17.0 %). In the Czech sample following non-compliance risk factors have been identified: taking >7 drugs per os (OR= 2.2), 10 single applications/day (OR= 2.5), more than twice daily dosing (OR= 2.4), problems with drug preparation (OR= 4.6), polypharmacotherapy 5 years and longer (OR= 5.5) and drug preparation without supervision or help (OR= 2.8). The highest prevalence of non-compliance was found for antidepressants (80 %), antiasthmatics (68 %), fibrates (60 %), nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, vasodilatators, anticoagulants/antiplatelet drugs and nootropics (50 %). Among the most common causes, patients reported forgetting to take the drug (74.3 % patients), mistrust in drug effect (10.6%) and fear of taking „too many drugs" (8.6 %). Conclusions. Non-compliance to prescribed drug regimen is a prevalent problem in one third of the Czech seniors and was found to be the highest among 11 European countries. Doctors prescribing to older people have to monitor purposefully compliance and strenghten co-operation and motivation of the patient to adhere with prescribed drug regimen. Particularly in seniors with polypharmacotherapy it seems necessary to simplify drug regimen as much as possible. In elderly patients with physical disability, cognitive impairment or depression supervision and/or help of another person with drug preparation and application may improve drug compliance

Objective: Authors investigated, cross-nationally, the factors, including demographic, psychiatric ( including cognitive), physical, and behavioral, determining whether older people take their prescribed medication. Older adults are prescribed more medication than any other group, and poor adherence is a common reason for nonresponse to medication. Methods: Researchers interviewed 3,881 people over age 65 who receive home care services in 11 countries, administering a structured interview in participants' homes. The main outcome measure was the percentage of participants not adherent to medication. Results: In all, 12.5% of people (N = 456) reported that they were not fully adherent to medication. Non-adherence was predicted by problem drinking (OR = 3.6), not having a doctor review their medication (OR = 3.3), greater cognitive impairment (OR = 1.4 for every one-point increase in impairment), good physical health (OR = 1.2), resisting care (OR = 2.1), being unmarried (OR = 2.3), and living in the Czech Republic (OR = 4.7) or Germany (OR = 1.4). Conclusion: People who screen positive for problem drinking and who have dementia (often undiagnosed) are less likely to adhere to medication. Therefore, doctors should consider dementia and problem drinking when prescribing for older adults. Interventions to improve adherence in older adults might be more effective if targeted at these groups. It is possible that medication-review enhances adherence by improving the doctor patient relationship or by emphasizing the need for medications