Responses of noninterviewable long-term care patients before and after interinstitutional relocation

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Health Services Research
• Patient Outcomes

Background:

• Long-term care facilities often undergo interinstitutional transfers.
• Cognitively impaired patients may be particularly vulnerable to relocation stressors.
• Understanding health impacts is crucial for patient well-being and care quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the health consequences of relocation for noninterviewable, cognitively impaired patients.
• To identify specific health indicators affected by interinstitutional transfer.
• To examine if the degree of cognitive impairment influences relocation impact.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective medical record review of 103 patients.
• Analysis of 16 health indicators over three 6-month periods: pre-relocation, post-relocation, and a comparable prior year.
• Multivariate analysis to control for confounding factors.

Main Results:

• Patients generally experienced a decline in health status following relocation.
• Health indicators worsened in the post-transfer period compared to pre-transfer.
• Patients with less severe cognitive impairment showed a more pronounced negative response to relocation.

Conclusions:

• Interinstitutional relocation negatively impacts the health of cognitively impaired long-term care residents.
• The degree of cognitive impairment may modulate the adverse effects of relocation.
• Careful consideration and mitigation strategies are needed during patient transfers.