[Cooperation concerning admission to and discharge of elderly people from the hospital. 3. Functional capacity, self-assessed health and quality of life].

As part of a total project concerning description and effects of the coordinating efforts of home nurses in connection with admission to and discharge from hospital of persons over the age of 65 years, the functional capacity and the subjective parameters: quality of life, self-assessed health and loneliness were registered on discharge and two months later. In order to assess the effect of intervention, the intervention group was compared with a control group. No differences in the functional capacity could be demonstrated on discharge or after two months. No differences could be demonstrated in the subjective parameters either. The effect of the home nurses' efforts in the total project could be measured as a reduction in the number of institution-days in the intervention group. These results suggest that, in further attempts to reduce the risk of complications in recently discharged elderly patients, further assistance of the functional capacity should be added to the forms of intervention described.