Study reveals nursing home death rate

ONE IN five people dies within three months of admission to a nursing home, a new Irish study has revealed.

Death rates were found to tail off in subsequent months, which is an internationally recognised phenomenon.

“Overall, we found that 7 per cent of patients died within one month of admission, 20 per cent by three months and 27 per cent by six months. After one year, 34 per cent were dead and 53 per cent were dead by two years,” said Dr Ciara McGlade, study author and non-consultant hospital doctor at Mallow General Hospital.

The research, which was presented to the Irish Gerontological Society (IGS) annual meeting last weekend, found that those patients with advanced dementia were more likely to die soon after admission to a nursing home. Other risk factors were being male and older.

About 250 patients with an average age of 82 years in private nursing homes in Cork were included in the study. Their care in the homes was funded by the HSE.

Commenting on the study, Dr Kieran O’Connor, consultant geriatrician at the Mercy Hospital in Cork said: “This is a frail population whose life expectancy is not the same as the general population of people of a similar age.” However, he added that the transition to a nursing home may affect their overall health.

“The move to a nursing home is a big life event and we need to support patients and their families more when a patient is moving into a nursing home.”

The study did not look at whether increased levels of care could have reduced the high percentage of deaths in the first few months after admission to a nursing home.

“This tendency towards early mortality in nursing homes has been found in other countries too, but we couldn’t tell if more care would have helped reduce mortality in the early months,” said Dr McGlade.