Dying in a nursing home: the role of local bed supply in nursing home discharges.
OBJECTIVE
The relationship of nursing home (NH) discharges due to death to NH bed supply and hospital bed supply was examined.


METHODS
Data on discharges came from the 1999 National Nursing Home Survey (N = 6,335). County-level bed supply, controls for hospice agency supply, and a nursing facility's percentage of area NH beds came from the Area Resource File. Multinomial logistic regression was used to compare deaths with live discharges. Marginal effects were calculated.


RESULTS
Discharges due to death increased with increasing NH bed supply and decreased in areas with greater hospital bed supply, areas where hospitalizations were more likely. Hospice supply and a facility's share of area NH beds also affected the probability of discharges due to death.


CONCLUSIONS
Supply factors appear related to discharge decisions in a manner affecting the probability of discharges due to death, although the magnitude of the relationship may be less than expected.
National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, Maryland, USA.
Frederic H
FH
Decker
D001509:Bed Occupancy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009026:Mortality; D009513:New Hampshire; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*