Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Jan 19;17(1):55.
doi: 10.1186/s12913-017-2008-7.

Influence of age and sex on hospitalization of nursing home residents: A cross-sectional study from Germany

Falk Hoffmann  1 , Guido Schmiemann  2   3
Affiliations

Influence of age and sex on hospitalization of nursing home residents: A cross-sectional study from Germany

Falk Hoffmann et al. BMC Health Serv Res. .

Abstract

Background: Nursing homes residents (NHR) are frequently transferred to hospitals. There is some evidence that male NHR are more often hospitalized than females, but the influence of age is less clear and predictors might differ between sexes. Analyses according to age groups between males and females have only been investigated once and none of the existing studies have conducted multivariate analyses stratified by sex. Aim of this study was to fill this gap.

Methods: We used data of the "Inappropriate Medication in patients with REnal insufficiency in Nursing homes" (IMREN) study, which was conducted between October 2014 and April 2015 in nursing homes in northwestern Germany (Bremen and Lower Saxony). Anonymised data was obtained by nursing staff of the participating nursing homes. All residents living in the participating care units were included. We assessed whether they were hospitalized at least once during the preceding 12 months. Cluster-adjusted multivariate logistic regression was applied to identify variables associated with hospitalizations. All analyses were stratified by sex.

Results: Of 852 residents from 21 nursing homes (mean age 83.5 years; 76.5% females), 43.1% (95% confidence intervals [95% CI]: 35.6-50.5) were hospitalized at least once during the preceding 12 months. This proportion was higher in residents institutionalized within the last 6 months compared to those with a longer length of stay (65.7% vs. 39.5%). Although not statistically significant, males were more often hospitalized than females (52.4% vs. 40.3%) and differences between sexes are particularly remarkable for age, health status and length of stay. In females, the chance of being hospitalized decreased steadily with age (OR: 2.40 [95% CI: 1.24-4.64] and 1.60 [95% CI: 1.05-2.43] for age groups <75 and 75-84 years compared to 85+ years). On the other hand, males aged 75-84 years had a statistically significant lower chance compared to 85+ years olds (OR: 0.41; 95% CI: 0.19-0.90).

Conclusions: Differences in factors associated with hospitalizations might exist between sexes. We strongly suggest that further studies on hospitalizations of NHR should stratify their analyses by sex.

Keywords: Care dependency; Epidemiology; Germany; Health services research; Nursing homes.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Prince MJ, Wu F, Guo Y, Gutierrez Robledo LM, O’Donnell M, Sullivan R, et al. The burden of disease in older people and implications for health policy and practice. Lancet. 2015;385:549–62. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61347-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rothgang H, Müller R, Mundhenk R, Unger R. BARMER GEK Pflegereport 2014. Siegburg: Asgard; 2014.
    1. Grabowski DC, Stewart KA, Broderick SM, Coots LA. Predictors of nursing home hospitalization: a review of the literature. Med Care Res Rev. 2008;65:3–39. doi: 10.1177/1077558707308754. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ramroth H, Specht-Leible N, König H-H, Brenner H. Hospitalizations during the last months of life of nursing home residents: a retrospective cohort study from Germany. BMC Health Serv Res. 2006;6:70. doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-6-70. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pedone C, Ercolani S, Catani M, Maggio D, Ruggiero C, Quartesan R, et al. Elderly patients with cognitive impairment have a high risk for functional decline during hospitalization: The GIFA Study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2005;60:1576–80. doi: 10.1093/gerona/60.12.1576. - DOI - PubMed