The first data on the life expectancy of elderly people in long term care facilities, has been published in the Irish Medical Journal. This will be important for effective service planning and monitoring quality of care. A random sample of patients discharged to long term care between Jan 1st 1997 and December 31st 2003 from a single Dublin hospital showed mean life expectancy for an Irish person aged 82 is 67 months for a man and 85 months for a woman).
Mortality was initially quite rapid (e.g. 7% dead by 30 days) but slowed down over time (e.g. 13% by 90 days, 17% by 183 days and 25% by 365 days). Those still alive were younger by about 3.5 years at the time of initial listing and were less likely to be discharged to continuing care.
The proportion of the sample discharged to private nursing homes increased significantly over time (23/90 [25.6%] from 1997-99 cohort compared to 67/120 [55.8%] from 2000-3 cohort.
Discharge to a private versus public nursing home bed was not significantly associated with mortality at 2 years though it was noted that disability was not measured and therefore could not be controlled for.
About Gary Culliton
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