title: Analyses of nursing home residents with cancer at admission.
abstract: The objective of the study was to profile nursing home residents with cancer at admission to the nursing facility. We used all admission assessments in the Minimum Data Set recorded throughout the United States during 2002 to identify 61,890 residents with cancer, or 11.3% of all admissions. Nursing home residents with cancer were significantly older and more likely to be male than other residents at admission. Large proportions of nursing home residents with cancer were activities of daily living dependent and about 55% used a wheelchair as their primary mode of locomotion. More than 37% of residents with cancer experienced at least moderate daily pain at admission and almost 26% had a diagnosis of depression. At admission, more than half of residents with cancer had an unstable health condition, 21% were judged to be in their final 6 months of life, and 19% received hospice care. More than 40% of residents with cancer had no advance directives recorded at admission. Compared to other residents at admission, larger proportions of residents with cancer require heavy care. Staff at nursing facilities need to address depression, pain management, and the implementation of advance directives to improve the quality of life for residents with cancer.
authors.affiliation: College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA. rjb161@msstate.edu
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Buchanan
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barkley
authors.forename: Suojin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: MyungSuk
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D016223:Advance Directives; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D016526:Workload