Home care is a therapeutic alternative for several pathologies. As their diagnosis, treatment and prognosis differ, conclusions on its usefulness should be drawn separately. There are still no agreed recommendations on what cases would benefit the most from this management in the different scenarios assessed.
Only one study evaluated mild to moderate pneumonia, with no differences in efficacy or complications. Evidence is not enough to draw valid conclusions. In patients with stroke, home care seems to be an alternative at least as effective as acute care hospital hospitalizations. Some authors even suggest that some results assessed as regards patient s satisfaction and depression parameters would be better than in standard hospitalizations.
No good quality evidence was found on home care both for upper urinary tract infections and infections during post-operative periods. In spite of what has been said, it is important to mention some important facts as regards the validity of the results exposed: a) the study design did not allow to detect small differences between the interventions; b) as studies are conducted in developed countries, rates of satisfaction are not likely to be subject to generalization; c) systematic reviews included studies with heterogeneous populations; d) it is likely that the included patients do no represent the general population.