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NCT Number: NCT07634757

Mobile Geriatric Unit (MGU) to Reduce Hospitalisations in Nursing Home Residents

This prospective observational before-after study evaluates the impact of a Mobile Geriatric Unit (MGU) on hospitalisation rates among nursing home residents. The study includes a 12-month control phase with usual care followed by a 12-month intervention phase during which the MGU is implemented. The MGU provides advanced on-site diagnostics and telemedicine-supported specialist consultation within nursing homes.

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Key information

Conditions

Nursing Home Care Hospitalisation Prevention

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

Nursing Homes in Saarland

Homburg, Saarland, 66421, Germany

About this study

This prospective observational before-after study evaluates the impact of a Mobile Geriatric Unit (MGU) on hospitalisation rates among nursing home residents in Saarland, Germany. The study includes a 12-month control phase with usual care followed by a 12-month intervention phase with MGU implementation in 46 nursing homes.

The MGU provides on-site advanced diagnostics (CT, X-ray, ultrasound, ECG, EEG, and laboratory testing) supported by telemedicine consultation with hospital specialists. A physician and radiology technician perform diagnostics in the nursing home, with results communicated to the general practitioner for treatment decisions within 48 hours.

Usual care involves hospital referral and in-hospital diagnostics. The intervention aims to reduce avoidable hospital admissions by providing diagnostics and specialist input directly in the nursing home.

The primary outcome is hospital admissions per person-year. Secondary outcomes include mortality, functional and cognitive status, quality of life (EQ-5D-5L), complications, healthcare costs, and 30-day hospitalisation-free survival.

Eligible participants are nursing home residents with consent or proxy consent; those requiring immediate hospitalisation are excluded.

Data are obtained from routine care and medical records, MGU documentation, structured assessments, and follow-up. Multilevel Poisson regression and interrupted time series analysis will be used.

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Saarland (AZ 159-21) and conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Residents of participating nursing homes
  • Informed consent from participant or legal representative

Exclusion criteria

  • Acute life-threatening conditions requiring immediate hospitalisation

Treatment and study plan

Mobile Geriatric Unit (MGU)

Other

The MGU is a mobile diagnostic unit providing on-site diagnostics in nursing homes. It includes a 32-slice (64 slice reconstruction) whole body CT scanner, digital X-ray, portable ultrasound, ECG, EEG, and point-of-care laboratory diagnostics. A physician and radiology technician perform diagnostics on-site. Results are transmitted via telemedicine to hospital specialists and communicated to the general practitioner for treatment decisions within 48 hours.

Primary outcomes

  1. Hospital admissions per person-year

    Time frame: Up to 24 months

    Number of inpatient hospital admissions, excluding elective admissions.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Mortality

    Time frame: Day 180

    Mortality

  2. Functional status; mobility: modified Rankin Scale (mRS)

    Time frame: Day 180

    Modified Rankin Scale (mRS):

    0: No symptoms

    • No significant disability
    • Slight disability
    • Moderate disability
    • Moderately severe disability
    • Severe disability
    • Death

    Minimum value: 0 (best outcome) Maximum value: 6 (worst outcome)

  3. Functional status; frailty: Clinical Frailty Scale

    Time frame: Day 180

    Clinical Frailty Scale (as according to Moorhouse and Rockwood*):

    • very fit
    • well
    • managing well
    • apparently vulnerable
    • mildly frail
    • moderately frail
    • severely frail
    • very severely frail
    • terminally ill

    Minimum value: 1 (best outcome) Maximum value: 9 (worst outcome)

    • Moorhouse P, Rockwood K. Frailty and its quantitative clinical evaluation. J R Coll Physicians Edinb 2012; 42: 333-40

  4. Cognitive status

    Time frame: Day 180

    The cognitive performance assessment is carried out through subjective evaluation by the nursing home's nursing staff at day 180.

  5. Quality of life (EQ-5D-5L)

    Time frame: Day 180

    EQ-5D-5L is a standardised measure of health-related quality of life developed by the EuroQol Group and assesses health status in terms of five dimensions of health. The five levels in each dimension are worded as (1) 'not /no problems', (2) 'slight problems', (3) 'moderate problems', (4) 'severe problems' and (5) 'unable to' (mobility, self-care, usual activities), 'extreme' (pain/depression), or 'extremely' (anxiety/depression).

    Minimum value: 1 (best outcome) Maximum value: 5 (worst outcome)

  6. Healthcare costs

    Time frame: Day 360

    Hospitalisation, transport, and MGU costs

  7. 30-day hospitalisation-free survival

    Time frame: Day 30

    Hospitalisation-free survival at day 30

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Klaus Fassbender, Professor

CONTACT

[email protected]

+49 681 302 75027

Silke Walter

CONTACT

[email protected]

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Universität des Saarlandes

Other

Collaborators

  • DIKOM Consortium

Registry information

Official study title

Mobile Geriatric Unit (MGU) to Reduce Hospitalisations in Nursing Home Residents: A Prospective Observational Before-After Study

Acronym: MGU

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2027
Study completion
2028
First posted
Jun 9, 2026
Registry last updated
Jun 10, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.