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Michele Peters,1 Laura Kelly,1 Caroline M Potter,1 Crispin Jenkinson,1 Elizabeth Gibbons,1 Julien Forder,2 Ray Fitzpatrick1 1Health Services Research Unit, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, 2Personal Social Services Research Unit, School of Social Policy Sociology and Social Research, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the quality of life, number of diseases and burden of morbidity of multimorbid primary care users and whether a simple disease count or a multimorbidity burden score is more predictive of quality of life.Patients and methods: Primary care patients with at least 1 of 11 specified chronic conditions were invited to participate in a postal survey. Participants completed the Disease Burden Impact Scale (DBIS) questionnaire, the five dimension-five level Euro-Qol (EQ-5D-5L) and standard demographics questions. The DBIS asks participants to self-report chronic conditions and to rate the impact of each condition. Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance were used to determine quality of life, count of diseases and burden of morbidity. Multiple linear regression analyses determined whether disease count or the DBIS, adjusted for demographics, was more predictive of the EQ-5D-5L scores.Results: Thirty-one percent (n=917) responded, from which 69 were excluded as they reported no or only one condition, leaving 848 (92%) in the analysis. Slightly more women (50.9%) participated; the mean age was 67.0 (SD 13.9) and the mean number of conditions was 6.5 (SD 3.49). The mean scores were: DBIS 15.5 (SD 12.00; score range 0–140, with higher scores indicating higher multimorbidity burden), EQ-5D-5L score 0.69 (SD 0.28; score range −0.28 [a state worse than death] to 1 [best possible health state]) and EQ-5D Visual Analog Scale (EQ-VAS) 65.44 (SD 23.66; score range 0–100 with higher scores meaning better health). The model using the DBIS score was more predictive of the EQ-5D-5L score and EQ-VAS than the model using the disease count (R2adj=0.53 using DBIS and R2adj=0.42 using disease count for EQ-5D-5L score, and R2adj=0.44 using DBIS versus R2adj=0.34 using disease count for EQ-VAS). All models were statistically significant (p

Michele Peters,1 Caroline M Potter,1 Laura Kelly,1 Cheryl Hunter,1 Elizabeth Gibbons,1 Crispin Jenkinson,1 Angela Coulter,1 Julien Forder,2 Ann-Marie Towers,2 Christine A’Court,3,4 Ray Fitzpatrick1 1Health Services Research Unit, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, 2Personal Social Services Research Unit, University of Kent, Canterbury, 3Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, 4Broadshires Health Centre, Carterton, UK Purpose: To identify the main issues of importance when living with long-term conditions to refine a conceptual framework for informing the item development of a patient-reported outcome measure for long-term conditions.Materials and methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews (n=48) were conducted with people living with at least one long-term condition. Participants were recruited through primary care. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by thematic analysis. The analysis served to refine the conceptual framework, based on reviews of the literature and stakeholder consultations, for developing candidate items for a new measure for long-term conditions.Results: Three main organizing concepts were identified: impact of long-term conditions, experience of services and support, and self-care. The findings helped to refine a conceptual framework, leading to the development of 23 items that represent issues of importance in long-term conditions. The 23 candidate items formed the first draft of the measure, currently named the Long-Term Conditions Questionnaire.Conclusion: The aim of this study was to refine the conceptual framework and develop items for a patient-reported outcome measure for long-term conditions, including single and multiple morbidities and physical and mental health conditions. Qualitative interviews identified the key themes for assessing outcomes in long-term conditions, and these underpinned the development of the initial draft of the measure. These initial items will undergo cognitive testing to refine the items prior to further validation in a survey. Keywords: long-term conditions, conceptual framework, qualitative interviews, patient-reported outcome measure

This article uses 2 years worth of data from 150 English local authorities to quantify the extent to which local variations in social care resources are associated with variations in performance of the acute sector, and particularly on the rates of hospital delayed discharges and hospital emergency re-admissions. Results indicate that social care services play a significant role in explaining local variations in acute sector performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive impairment among residents has considerable resource implications for both individuals and those responsible for publicly funded care. Two linked surveys were carried out in England: (1) a longitudinal study followed 2500 admissions to publicly funded care up to 42 months after admission; and (2) a cross-sectional survey of 618 homes collected information about 11,900 residents. Information was collected about cognitive impairment using the Minimum Data Set Cognitive Performance Scale. Cognitive impairment was associated with source of funding and type of home. Although level of cognitive impairment has some effect, fees and costs were most influenced by type of home. At the same level of impairment, self-funded residents were more likely to be located in relatively low-cost settings than publicly funded residents. In independent homes fees were lower for publicly funded than for self-funded residents. Overall median length of stay of publicly funded admissions was 18 months. For the most part length of stay was not associated with level of cognitive impairment on admission. It is concluded that more information is needed about the effect of quality of care on people with cognitive impairment in different settings. If the same quality of care can be achieved in residential and nursing homes, the evidence would suggest that changes in placement policies could result in potential savings to the public purse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the pricing behaviour of providers of residential care for people with mental health problems. Two aspects of pricing were considered. First, are there differences between providers' market power and their actual mark-up rates (e.g. due to differences in motivation)? Second, do the different governance arrangements used in sectors of the industry, such as unified public and non-profit organisation and private bilateral contracting, affect pricing behaviour? A theoretical model was developed to underpin the empirical analysis of 496 residents in 112 mental health care facilities. Private, bilateral organisation was found to be associated with comparatively lower potential price-cost mark-up but a greater propensity to use this power to make profits/surpluses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the incentives embodied in contracts between purchasers and providers of residential care for frail elderly people. The paper begins with an assessment of current contractual arrangements. A theoretical inquiry generates propositions that some contracts create incentives for providers to misrepresent users' characteristics. These propositions are found to be supported by sample data. The paper then turns to a theoretical consideration of optimal governance structures and, in particular, the use of incentive contracts. These contracts, it is claimed, may go some way to curbing cost-exaggerating behaviour without providing strong incentives to cream-skim or shirk on quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Abstract Background The adult social care outcomes toolkit (ASCOT) includes a preference-weighted measure of social care-related quality of life for use in economic evaluations. ASCOT has eight attributes: personal cleanliness and comfort, food and drink, control over daily life, personal safety, accommodation cleanliness and comfort, social participation and involvement, occupation and dignity. This paper aims to demonstrate the construct validity of the ASCOT attributes. Methods A survey of older people receiving publicly-funded home care services was conducted by face-to-face interview in several sites across England. Additional data on variables hypothesised to be related and unrelated to each of the attributes were also collected. Relationships between these variables and the attributes were analysed through chi-squared tests and analysis of variance, as appropriate, to test the construct validity of each attribute. Results 301 people were interviewed and approximately 10% of responses were given by a proxy respondent. Results suggest that each attribute captured the extent to which respondents exercised choice in how their outcomes were met. There was also evidence for the validity of the control over daily life, occupation, personal cleanliness and comfort, personal safety, accommodation cleanliness and comfort, and social participation and involvement attributes. There was less evidence regarding the validity of the food and drink and dignity attributes, but this may be a consequence of problems finding good data against which to validate these attributes, as well as problems with the distribution of the food and drink item. Conclusions This study provides some evidence for the construct validity of the ASCOT attributes and therefore support for ASCOT's use in economic evaluation. It also demonstrated the feasibility of its use among older people, although the need for proxy respondents in some situations suggests that developing a version that is suitable for proxies would be a useful future direction for this work. Validation of the instrument on a sample of younger social care users would also be useful.