Comparison of hospitalization between nursing home and community residents

The authors prospectively identified 96 consecutive nursing home residents (NHR) admitted to the medical wards of their affiliated hospitals to determine the outcome of hospitalization for these patients in comparison with 88 admissions in a similarly aged community residents (CR) population. Nursing home and community resident groups were similar in age, sex, marital status, and distribution among the four study hospitals. Dementia was a more common preexisting diagnosis in NHR than in CR. Reasons for admission differed between the two groups. Although NHR experienced a longer hospitalization than CR, frequency and duration of intensive care unit admissions were similar. Fatal outcome occurred more commonly in NHR compared with CR (27 v 11%, P less than .001). Predictors of mortality were examined. Nursing home residents also experienced a higher mortality than CR within the six months after hospitalization (35 v 20%, P less than .005).