title: Care needs of higher-functioning nursing home residents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To quantify and characterize the chronic conditions of older Americans who live in nursing homes (NHs) but have minimal disability and might be able to live in less restrictive and less expensive settings.
  
  
  METHODS
  Secondary analysis of the 1999 National Nursing Home Survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  NH staff members familiar with the care of residents who were 65 years or older and had resided in the NH for more than 100 days.
  
  
  METHODS
  We defined "higher-functioning" residents as those who received help from NH staff in 0-2 activities of daily living. We then classified these higher-functioning residents according to their conditions requiring chronic care: impaired mobility, conditions requiring rehabilitation, mental health disorders, incontinence, severe sensory impairment, and medical conditions (congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, Parkinson's disease).
  
  
  RESULTS
  One-fifth (19.8%) of the NH residents met the criteria for "higher-functioning" (n=1145). Of these, 64.1% had mental disorders, 40.4% had impaired mobility, 20.6% were incontinent, 18% had conditions requiring rehabilitative therapy, 8.7% had severe sensory impairment, and 43.0% had one or more of the four medical diagnoses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Many higher-functioning long-stay nursing home residents have chronic care needs that are similar to those of older adults who live in private residences. Many such persons may be able to live in community settings.
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. mmcnabne@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Matthew K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: McNabney
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Semanick
authors.forename: Judith D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Kasper
authors.forename: Chad
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boult
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States