Complexity in a General Hospital Inpatient Population
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Complexity in a General Hospital Inpatient Population Measured with Oxford Case Complexity Assessment Measure (OCCAM) Tool
IRAS ID
254235
Contact name
Elizabeth Stoppard
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Airedale NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 9 months, 27 days
Research summary
Complexity describes all the biological, psychological and social factors that influence a patient’s illness and management. Complexity places a significant economic burden on the healthcare system and influences health outcomes for patients, but it is not routinely measured in an inpatient setting. Identifying and measuring complexity is an important step in planning appropriate interventions and services. The Oxford Case Complexity Assessment Measure (OCCAM) is a clinical tool developed for the purpose of detecting and quantifying complex care needs across all clinical settings. It consists of questions covering eight domains of functionality and wellbeing, based on the World Health Organisation (WHO) International Classification of Functioning (ICF), that result in an overall complexity score for each patient. The domains cover core aspects of a medical and social history.
The OCCAM tool has been validated in rehabilitation contexts. This study plans to identify the range of complexity on medical and surgical wards using the OCCAM tool, and to compare OCCAM-complexity with other health outcome measures (such as length of stay, frailty and index of deprivation). An understanding of complexity in this group of patients will assist local service development to improve health outcomes.REC name
West of Scotland REC 3
REC reference
18/WS/0232
Date of REC Opinion
18 Jan 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion