[Reasons for nursing home admission of hospitalized gerontopsychiatric patients]

The financial burden of medical care and nursing of elder people has become one of the most important public health problems in Germany. The nursing of gerontopsychiatric patients mainly accounts for the high costs. In this study the reasons for nursing home placement are analyzed in a sample of 123 psychiatric inpatients primarily affected after the age of 64. Twenty-two (20.6%) cases were admitted to a nursing home after hospital discharge. The most important reasons were impairments of the self-management of the household (preparing meals etc.) and of hygiene. A declining cognitive capacity has a great impact on these impairments. The probability to be admitted to a nursing home increases with the number of impairments. Only 20.6% of all gerontopsychiatric patients fulfilled the criteria required for social support according to the new German social law of nursing-care insurance.