Disaggregating activities of daily living limitations for predicting nursing home admission.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To examine whether disaggregated activities of daily living (ADL) limitations better predict the risk of nursing home admission compared to conventionally used ADL disability counts.

Data sources

We used panel data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) for years 1998-2010. The HRS is a nationally representative survey of adults older than 50 years (n = 18,801).

Study design

We fitted Cox regressions in a continuous time survival model with age at first nursing home admission as the outcome. Time-varying ADL disability types were the key explanatory variables.

Principal findings

Of the six ADL limitations, bathing difficulty emerged as the strongest predictor of subsequent nursing home placement across cohorts. Eating and dressing limitations were

SUBMITTER: Fong JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4369222 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature