Male Nursing Home Patients: Relocation and Mortality*

Abstract

The effect of transfer from one nursing home to another was studied in 82 male veterans over a four-year period. Group T comprised 41 patients who were transferred from the initial nursing home to one or more other homes; Group NT (controls) comprised 41 patients who were not transferred from the initial nursing home. Disability and illness were assessed by specific rating scales, and the 32 nursing homes were evaluated by three social workers. There were no significant differences between the two groups of patients, although the NT group seemed more disorganized at the end of the study period. For the transferred group there was no increase in the mortality rate. Apparently the most important factor in good adjustment to a nursing home is the understanding of the patient's needs for assistance and service.

Relocation of the Elderly

“…Of the interinstitutional relocation studies examining mortality rates, the study by Ogren and Linn (1971) was an important departure from previous research. An increase in mortality rate associated with a transfer was not identified in this study; rather, a decrease was identified.…”

Does Cognitive Status Moderate the Health Effects of Single-Person Room Transfers on Nursing Home Residents?

“…Yet, in a recent review of 17 studies investigating the cognitive status vulnerability hypothesis, Mirotznik and Los Kamp (2000) found 12 studies lacked a comparison group of nonmovers (Aldrich, 1964;Friedman et al, 1995;Guttman & Herbert, 1976;Kral, Grad, & Berenson, 1968;Lander et al, 1997;Lieberman & Tobin, 1983, pp. 151-152;Markus, Blenkner, Bloom, & Downs, 1972;Marlowe, 1974;Miller & Lieberman, 1965;Nirenberg, 1983;Ogren & Linn, 1971). Without a comparison group, one cannot rule out the possibility that the greater mortality and/or morbidity among relocated residents who are cognitively impaired may merely reflect the fact that such residents deteriorate at a higher rate in general, regardless of the occurrence of relocation (Coffman, 1983;van Dijk, Dippel, & Habbema, 1991).…”

Long-Term Care: Can Our Society Meet the Needs of Its Elderly?

“…it is impossible to study nursing home preferences by observing movement of patients from facilities with which they are dissatisfi ed to other facilities. There is some evidence to suggest, however, that the widely known negative effects of relocation of nursing home patients does not occur when the patient himself has requested transfer and is prepared for the move (44).…”