Abstract
PURPOSE This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the V1SAGES case management intervention (Vulnerable Patients in Primary Care: Nurse Case Management and Self-management Support) for frequent users of health care services with chronic disease and complex care needs on psychological distress and patient activation.
METHODS We used a 2-phase sequential mixed methods design. The first phase was a pragmatic randomized controlled trial with intention-to-treat analysis that measured the effects of the intervention compared with usual care on psychological distress and patient activation before and after 6 months. The second phase had a qualitative descriptive design and entailed thematic analysis of in-depth interviews (25 patients, 6 case management nurses, 9 health managers) and focus groups (8 patients’ spouses, 21 family physicians) to understand stakeholders’ perceived effects of the intervention on patients.
RESULTS A total of 247 patients were randomized into the intervention group (n = 126) or the control group (n = 121). Compared with usual care, the intervention reduced psychological distress (odds ratio = 0.43; 95% CI, 0.19–0.95, P = .04), but did not have any significant effect on patient activation (P = .43). Qualitative results suggested that patients and their spouses benefitted from the case management intervention, gaining a sense of security, and stakeholders noted better patient self-management of health.
CONCLUSIONS Together, our study’s quantitative and qualitative results suggest that case management reduces psychological distress, making patients and caregivers feel more secure, whereas impact on self-management is unclear. Case management is a promising avenue to improve outcomes among frequent users of health care with complex needs.
- frequent users
- utilization
- case management
- outcomes
- mixed methods
- comorbidity
- practice-based research
- primary care
Footnotes
Conflicts of interest: authors report none.
Funding support: This project was funded by the Pfizer-FRSQ-MSSS Chronic Disease Fund.
Disclaimer: None of the funding agencies—Pfizer, Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQ-S), or Ministère de la santé et des services sociaux (MSSS)—was involved in collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data. They had no role in preparing, reviewing, or approving the manuscript.
Previous presentation: This study was presented as a poster at the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) Annual Meeting; October 24–28, 2015; Cancun, Mexico.
Clinical trial registry: NCT01719991.
Supplementary materials: Available at http://www.AnnFamMed.org/content/16/3/232/suppl/DC1/.
- Received for publication June 28, 2017.
- Revision received December 20, 2017.
- Accepted for publication January 19, 2018.
- © 2018 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.