65 and older, any sex, with Chronic Disease. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.
Results — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov
Per-arm endpoint measurements with 95% confidence intervals where reported. Source: trial results section.
PROMIS Global Health Measure ScorePrimary· Measured at baseline and 12 months
Quality of life is assessed using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Global Health measure. For consistency with other measures, the time frame has been modified to refer to the past 2 weeks. Scores are calculated using the HealthMeasures Scoring Service. Scores are a T-score metric with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10 with a range of about 20 to 80. Higher scores indicate better quality of life.
Baseline: Mental
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
46.27
± 7.42
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
46.21
± 7.16
12 Months: Mental
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
44.92
± 6.82
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
46.38
± 7.34
Baseline: Physical
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
42.40
± 6.50
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
42.35
± 5.99
12 Months: Physical
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
42.13
± 6.30
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
42.41
± 6.32
Psychological Flourishing ScalePrimary· Baseline and 12-months
Psychological well-being is assessed using the Psychological Flourishing Scale. The wording of items has been somewhat modified, including simplifying double-barreled items. For example, "I lead a purposeful and meaningful life" is shortened to "I lead a meaningful life." Scores are a sum of all items with a range from 8 to 40. Higher scores indicate a better well-being.
Baseline
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
31.55
± 5.39
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
31.12
± 5.08
12-months
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
31.50
± 5.15
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
31.48
± 5.60
UCLA Loneliness ScalePrimary· Baseline and 12-months
Loneliness is measured using the 8 items from the UCLA Loneliness Scale with the highest factor loadings among older adults. Scores ranged from 8 to 40. Higher scores indicate more loneliness.
Baseline
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
16.02
± 5.77
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
17.12
± 6.04
12-months
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
16.05
± 6.27
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
16.75
± 5.86
Unhealthy Laboratory ScoresSecondary· 12-months
Laboratory scores are obtained from the patient's electronic health record (EHR) including blood pressure, HAC1 for diabetes, cholesterol, BMI. Some participants did not have this data. The final score is a fraction of the number of unhealthy labs over each persons total labs. Scores range from 0 to 1. Higher scores indicate more unhealthy lab records.
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
0.64
± 0.31
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
0.64
± 0.34
FallsSecondary· Baseline and 12-months
Falls were assessed by asking how often the participant had fallen in the past 3 months. A fall is defined in the survey as "the body going to the ground without being pushed." Here we report statistics for how many times participants had fallen. Falls ranged from 0 to 14.
Baseline
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
0.36
± 0.95
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
0.36
± 0.88
12-months
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
0.36
± 0.89
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
0.72
± 4.09
Symptom DistressSecondary· Baseline and 12-months
Symptom distress is assessed using a combined list of 20 symptoms and chronic conditions from the General Symptom Distress Scale and Bayliss Disease Burden Scale, assessing the severity of distress for each over the past 2 weeks (0=do not have this, 1=not very distressing, and 5=extremely distressing). Scores range from 0 to 100. Higher scores indicate more symptom distress.
Baseline
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
21.10
± 14.56
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
20.58
± 14.55
12-months
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
18.86
± 14.89
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
18.58
± 14.14
Medication AdherenceSecondary· Baseline and 12-months
Medication adherence is assessed with 8 items, 6 based on the Brief Medication Questionnaire by Svarstad et al. We simplified response options so that participants rate how often they had specific issues with medication (1=never and 5=always). On the basis of patients' experiences, we added 2 original items, "Feels like I no longer need it" and "Feels like I don't need the full dose. There were 8 items in total, summed to get a final score. Scores ranged from 8 to 40. Higher scores indicate less medication adherence.
Baseline
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
13.14
± 4.36
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
13.07
± 3.88
12-months
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
12.70
± 4.23
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
12.56
± 4.07
Crisis Health Care VisitsSecondary· Baseline and 12-months
Crisis health care was the total number of urgent care visits, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations combined. Reported is the average count of visits. Higher numbers indicate more visits.
Baseline
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
0.42
± 0.90
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
0.45
± 1.06
12-months
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
0.86
± 1.76
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
0.76
± 1.45
Long-term CareSecondary· Baseline and 12-months
Long-term care was the number of nights spent in assisted living facilities and nursing homes over the past 3 months. Number of nights ranged from 0 to 92. Higher numbers indicate more nights spent.
Baseline
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
0.01
± 0.15
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
0.25
± 2.50
12-months
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
0.79
± 7.76
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
0.29
± 2.11
Falls Requiring Medical AttentionSecondary· Baseline and 12-months
Falls requiring medical attention was assessed by one item counting the number of times in the past 3 months. A fall is defined in the survey as "the body going to the ground without being pushed." Here we report statistics for how many times participants had fallen and required medical attention. Falls needing medical attention ranged from 0 to 4.
Baseline
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
0.23
± 0.50
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
0.18
± 0.39
12-months
Group
Value
95% CI
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + Internet
0.33
± 0.84
Treatment as Usual (TAU) + ElderTree
0.16
± 0.37
Sponsor's own description
Multiple chronic conditions are common and expensive among patients aged ≥65 and are associated with lower quality of life, poorer response to treatment, worse medical and psychiatric outcomes, higher mortality, and higher costs of care.
The primary purpose of this study is to conduct a randomized clinical trial (RCT) to examine the effects of ElderTree --a web-based intervention--on health outcomes and healthcare use among older adults with several chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, COPD, BMI over 30, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease, arrhythmia/atrial fibrillation, chronic pain, arthritis.
The investigator's hypothesis is that patients assigned to TAU+ElderTree will have better quality of life and fewer primary care visits than those assigned to TAU+Internet.
Publications & conference data
5 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):
Publications: Europe PMC API search by NCT ID, retrieved 10 June 2026
Drug + disease cross-links: matched in real time against Drug Landscape's normalised drug + company + condition tables
Sponsor: as reported to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Wisconsin, Madison
Last refreshed: 1 September 2022
Drug Landscape aggregates and links these public records for informational use only. Always verify against the primary source before clinical or regulatory decisions. Canonical URL: https://druglandscape.com/trial/NCT03387735.