title: Predicting institutional long-term care admission in dementia: a mixed-methods study of informal caregivers' reports.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate agreement between: (1) expected reasons and actual reasons for admission of people with dementia according to informal caregivers; (2) scores on measurement instruments prior to admission and the actual reasons for admission according to informal caregivers.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Timely admission of people with dementia is a crucial issue. Information is highly warranted on whether informal caregivers are capable of prior identification of causes of admission and, can thus be considered a reliable prospective source on causes of admission.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort study among informal caregivers of people with dementia who made a transition to institutional long-term care.
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative data on the expected and actual reasons for admission were collected via open-ended questions at baseline and follow-up. Furthermore, at baseline, data were collected using measurement instruments to measure pre-admission characteristics. Interviews took place between November 2010-April 2012. After categorizing the answers, the agreement between the expected and actual reasons was calculated. Furthermore, bivariate associations were calculated between the actual reasons for admission and scores on corresponding measurement instruments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For most informal caregivers, there was agreement between their statements on the expected reason and the actual reason for admission. A third of the caregivers showed no conformity. Bivariate associations showed that there is also agreement between the actual reasons for admission and scores on corresponding measurement instruments.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Informal caregivers can be considered reliable sources of information regarding what causes the admission of a person with dementia. Professional care should anticipate informal caregivers' statements and collaborate with them to strive for timely and appropriate admission.
authors: Department of Health Services Research, CAPHRI, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors: Basema
authors: B
authors: Afram
authors: Department of Health Services Research, CAPHRI, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors: Hilde
authors: H
authors: Verbeek
authors: Department of Health Services Research, CAPHRI, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors: Michel H C
authors: MH
authors: Bleijlevens
authors: University of Manchester, Manchester, England UK.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Challis
authors: University of Turku, Turku, Finland/Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.
authors: Helena
authors: H
authors: Leino-Kilpi
authors: Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Sweden.
authors: Staffan
authors: S
authors: Karlsson
authors: Department of Geriatric Medicine, CHU Toulouse University Hospital, France.
authors: Maria E
authors: ME
authors: Soto
authors: School of Nursing Science, Faculty of Health, University of Witten/Herdecke, Germany.
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Renom-Guiteras
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Tartu, Estonia.
authors: Kai
authors: K
authors: Saks
authors: Nursing Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Adelaida
authors: A
authors: Zabalegui
authors: Department of Health Services Research, CAPHRI, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors: Jan P H
authors: JP
authors: Hamers
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003704:Dementia / Q000451:nursing*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010343:Patient Admission
keywords: care transition; dementia; family care; informal care; institutional long-term care; nursing; nursing home; predicting admission; reasons for admission