Comparison of health service use trajectories of residential aged care residents reviewed by a hospital avoidance program versus usual care

Objective: To compare health service use trajectories of residential aged care facility (RACF) residents reviewed by the Aged Care Rapid Response Team (ARRT) to RACF residents who received usual care. Methods: A retrospective group-based trajectory analysis of RACF residents aged >= 65 years who were reviewed by ARRT during 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016 was conducted. Health service use trajectories were followed for two years to 30 June 2018 and compared to RACF residents aged >= 65 years who lived in the same Local Health District and received usual care. Results: There were 2,245 ARRT-reviewed resident hospitalisations and 11,892 usual care resident hospital admissions during 2015-16. Trajectory analysis categorised ARRT-reviewed residents into four groups and usual care residents into three groups. Age, comorbid health conditions and dementia were predictors of group membership in both ARRT-reviewed RACF residents and usual care RACF residents. Additionally, gender predicted group membership in ARRT-reviewed RACF residents and fall-related injuries predicted group membership in usual care RACF residents. Conclusion: The identification of health service use trajectories assists in understanding hospital use by older RACF residents and may offer guidance in the design of prevention measures, including hospital avoidance programs.