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Residential aged care: The de facto hospice for N ew Z ealand's older people
Author(s) -
Connolly Martin J,
Broad Joanna B,
Boyd Michal,
Kerse Ngaire,
Gott Merryn
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/ajag.12010
Subject(s) - medicine , hazard ratio , acute care , demography , emergency medicine , gerontology , health care , confidence interval , sociology , economics , economic growth
Aim To describe short‐term mortality among residential aged care (RAC) residents in Auckland, New Zealand. Method Prospective follow‐up, 6828 residents (median age 86 years, 69.8% women) from census‐type survey (10/9/2008); 152 facilities. Mortality data from central sources. Results Eight hundred and sixty‐one (12.6%) died by 6 months. Survival related to RAC length of stay before the survey: those resident < 1 month (subgroup, n = 380) having 80.0% survival, 1–6 months 83.2% and >6 months 87.4% ( P < 0.0001). In those admitted to private hospital from acute hospital ( n = 104 of the subgroup of 380), 6‐month mortality was 36.5% ( P < 0.0001 vs other ‘short stayers’). Significant mortality predictors were: private hospital admission from acute hospital (hazard ratio ( HR ) = 2.02), unscheduled GP visit during the prior 2 weeks ( HR = 1.90), personal care disability ( HR = 1.90) and acute hospital admission number during the previous 2 years ( ≥ 3; HR = 5.40). Conclusions RAC mortality (especially post admission) is high. Training and resource in the sector should reflect this.