title: Experience of care home residents with Parkinson's disease: Reason for admission and service use.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The care needs of people with Parkinson's disease (PD) are poorly understood. We aimed to investigate the factors that precipitate entry to institutional care, and on-going care needs once in care, within a representative cohort of community-dwelling people with PD.
  
  
  METHODS
  All people with idiopathic PD, Parkinson's plus syndromes and vascular parkinsonism under the care of the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust PD service who were living in care homes on 1 January 2013 were included. Disease severity (Hoehn and Yahr stage) and demographic data were collected. Admissions to hospital over the previous 2 years and in the year before institutional care admission were documented.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 90 patients (51 females) with a mean age of 81.3 years were included. During care home stay, the median number of emergency department attendances, the median number of hospital admissions and the median length of stay for those admitted per year were significantly lower than before care home admission. Both before care home admission and during care home stay, falls were the most common diagnoses in people attending emergency departments, with 32 of 65 (49.2%) admissions before and 34 of 59 (57.6%) admissions during care home stay having falls recorded as a cause of attendance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hospital attendances and admissions were relatively common, even after institutional care home placement. Events precipitating admission, such as falls, might be preventable. PD nurse specialists could be an effective way to help train staff in homes where someone is known to have PD.
authors: Department of Medicine, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, North Tyneside General Hospital, North Shields, UK; Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK.
authors: Richard W
authors: RW
authors: Walker
authors: Jessica
authors: J
authors: Palmer
authors: Jonathan
authors: J
authors: Stancliffe
authors: Brian H
authors: BH
authors: Wood
authors: Annette
authors: A
authors: Hand
authors: William K
authors: WK
authors: Gray
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006761:Hospitals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000639:trends; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: Parkinson's disease; care homes; nursing care