A scoping review of 78 articles found that 'days at home after surgery' is an increasingly used metric, though 18% of studies did not define its operationalization.
Days at home after surgery is a promising, validated patient-centered outcome metric, but requires standardization in terminology and reporting.
BACKGROUND: Days at home after surgery is a promising new patient-centred outcome metric that measures time spent outside of healthcare institutions and mortality. The aim of this scoping review was to synthesize the use of days at home in perioperative research and evaluate how it has been termed, defined, and validated, with a view to inform future use. METHODS: The search was run on MEDLINE, Embase, and Scopus on 30 March 2023 to capture all perioperative research where days at home or equivalent was measured. Days at home was defined as any outcome where time spent outside of hospitals and/or healthcare institutions was calculated. RESULTS: A total of 78 articles were included. Days at home has been increasingly used, with most studies published in 2022 (35, 45%). Days at home has been applied in multiple study design types, with varying terminology applied. There is variability in how days at home has been defined, with variation in measures of healthcare utilization incorporated across studies. Poor reporting was noted, with 14 studies (18%) not defining how days at home was operationalized and 18 studies (23%) not reporting how death was handled. Construct and criterion validity were demonstrated across seven validation studies in different surgical populations. CONCLUSION: Days at home after surgery is a robust, flexible, and validated outcome measure that is being increasingly used as a patient-centred metric after surgery. With growing use, there is also growing variability in terms used, definitions applied, and reporting standards. This review summarizes these findings to work towards coordinating and standardizing the use of days at home after surgery as a patient-centred policy and research tool.
Ribeiro et al. (Wed,) conducted a review in Surgery (n=78). Days at home after surgery (outcome metric) was evaluated on Use, terminology, definition, and validation of days at home. A scoping review of 78 articles found that 'days at home after surgery' is an increasingly used metric, though 18% of studies did not define its operationalization.