Risk of continued institutionalization after hospitalization in older adults

• Published in: The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences Vol. 66; no. 12; p. 1321
• Main Authors: Goodwin, James S, Howrey, Bret, Zhang, Dong D, Kuo, Yong-Fang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.12.2011
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cohort Studies; Female; Homes for the Aged - statistics & numerical data; Hospitalization - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Institutionalization; Long-Term Care - statistics & numerical data; Male; Medicare - statistics & numerical data; Nursing Homes - statistics & numerical data; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; United States; United States
• ISSN: 1758-535X
• DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glr171

Little is known about the role of hospitalization as a risk factor for placement into long-term care. We therefore sought to estimate the percentage of long-term care nursing home stays precipitated by a hospitalization and factors associated with risk of nursing home placement after hospitalization. We studied a retrospective cohort of a 5% sample of Medicare enrollees aged ≥ 66 years. The study included 762,243 patients admitted 1,149,568 times in January-April of 1996-2008, with 3,880,292 nonhospitalized controls. We measured residence in a nursing home 6 months after hospitalization. From 1996 through 2008, 5.55% of hospitalized patients resided in a nursing home 6 months later compared with 0.54% of nonhospitalized control patients. Three quarters of new nursing home placements were precipitated by a hospitalization. Independent risk factors for long-term care placement after hospitalization included advanced age (odds ratio [OR] = 3.56 for age 85-94 vs. 66-74 years), female gender (OR = 1.41), dementia (OR = 6.15), and discharge from the hospital to a skilled nursing facility (SNF; OR = 10.83). Having a primary care physician was associated with reduced odds (OR = 0.75). In the adjusted analyses, risk of institutionalization after hospitalization decreased 4% per year from 1996 to 2008. There were very large geographic variations in rates of long-term care after hospitalization, from < 2% in some hospital referral regions to > 13% in others for patients > 75 years in 2007-2008. Most placements in nursing homes are preceded by a hospitalization followed by discharge to a SNF. Discharge to a SNF is associated with a high risk of subsequent long-term care.