title: Characteristics of patients aged 75 years and over who are discharged from hospital without district nursing support.
abstract: To investigate the state of health and needs of over-75-year-olds discharged from hospital and not referred to the District Nurse Service, patients in this age group who were discharged from hospital, who returned to their own or a relative's home and were not referred to the District Nurse Service were interviewed by Health Visitors during their normal post-discharge visit. Assessment was by a questionnaire on details of discharge, statutory, voluntary and informal support, physical status, disability level, ability to self-care and mental status. It was found that there was wide variation in timing of Health Visitors' post-discharge visits, and most patients had had some contact with their GP before this visit. Almost half the patients were discharged from General Surgery or surgical specialties. Most patients were fairly healthy but a minority had severe disabilities. Physical status, disability level and ability to self-care were related to age and sex of the patient, with older patients and women having poorer health status. Women had poorer mental status than men. It is concluded that the wide variety in health status and needs of this group of patients suggest that they should be taken into account in the planning of new discharge procedures. Closer links between the hospital, community teams and general practice are suggested.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre.
authors.forename: E I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Greenwell
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Groom
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000359:Aftercare; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003152:Community Health Nursing; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010351:Patient Discharge; D012737:Sex Factors