Personal care assistance needs of obese elders entering nursing homes

To assess the personal care assistance needs of obese (body mass index [BMI] >or=30) elders (>or=65 years) entering nursing homes in Arkansas between 1999 and 2004.

Retrospective cross-sectional study, using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics including multivariate logistic regression.

The United States.

Participants were 47,932 unduplicated elders (>or=65 years) upon first admission to a nursing home in Arkansas from 1999 through 2004.

Clinical assessment of height and weight and personal care assistance needs reported on the initial Minimum Data Set (MDS) admission assessment.

Obese elders had significantly (P < .01) greater odds (1.18 to 1.70) of needing extensive assistance to perform the selected activities of daily living (ADLs) compared to non-obese (BMI 16 to 29) elders.

Excessive body weight of newly admitted elderly nursing home residents is associated with greater use of personal care staff to perform selected ADLs. Other research has shown that increased ADL dependency is associated with increased cost, which coupled with the current finding suggests rising rates of obesity among the elderly and those entering nursing homes may strain the long-term care (LTC) system in terms of staffing and cost. Interventions to address these potential impacts should therefore be developed and tested.