Identifying Older Adults with Serious Illness: A Critical Step toward Improving the Value of Health Care.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To create and test three prospective, increasingly restrictive definitions of serious illness.

Data sources

Health and Retirement Study, 2000-2012.

Study design

We evaluated subjects' 1-year outcomes from the interview date when they first met each definition: (A) one or more severe medical conditions (Condition) and/or receiving assistance with activities of daily living (Functional Limitation); (B) Condition and/or Functional Limitation and hospital admission in the last 12 months and/or residing in a nursing home (Utilization); and (C) Condition and Functional Limitation and Utilization. Definitions are increasingly restrictive, but not mutually exclusive.

Data collection

Of 11,577 eligible subjects, 5,297 met definition A; 3,151 definition B; and

SUBMITTER: Kelley AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5264106 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature