The number of
persons who were dependent on assistance in performing the instrumental activities of daily living but not the
basic activities did not differ significantly between the two
groups. Nine people in the intervention group (4 percent)
and 20 in the control group (10 percent) were permanently admitted to nursing homes (P0.02). Acute care hospital admissions and short-term nursing home admissions did not differ significantly between the two groups.
In the second and third years of the study, there were significantly more visits to physicians among the participants in the intervention group than among those in the
control group (mean number of visits per month, 1.41 in
year 2 and 1.27 in year 3 in the intervention group,
as compared with 1.11 and 0.92 visits, respectively, in
the control group; P0.007 and P0.001, respectively).
The cost of the intervention for each year of disabilityfree life gained was about $6,000