Resource Use in Swedish Nursing Homes: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Follow-Up Study

Nursing homes in Sweden provide housing and care for people aged 65 years or older who require assistance with everyday activities. An increasing number of nursing home residents have cognitive and functional decline, which can result in additional time needed for care provision. This study aimed to explore changes in resource use and associated factors in Swedish nursing homes over a 5-year period.

This repeated cross-sectional study analyzed baseline (2013-2014) and follow-up (2018-2019) proxy-rated data from 4599 participants from the Swedish National Inventory of Care and Health in Residential Aged Care study. Resource use was measured using the Resource Use in Dementia scale. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, chi-square tests, and multiple linear regressions were performed.

Total resource use increased from 7.15 h/day to 7.83 h/day between baseline and follow-up. The number of residents living in a dementia unit increased from 34.6% to 43%. Higher independence in activities of daily living was associated with lower total resource use at follow-up while living in a dementia unit was associated with higher total resource use. Higher total resource use was associated with seven neuropsychiatric symptoms. For residents living in a dementia unit, four neuropsychiatric symptoms were associated with higher total resource use.

Resource use in Swedish nursing homes increased between baseline and follow-up. These results may inform future policy, financing, and implementation decisions to support resource utilization in nursing homes.