Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T20:10:33.175Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A Survival Analysis of Institutional Relocation in a Chronic Care Hospital*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

John P. Hirdes
Affiliation:
Providence Centre and University of Waterloo
K. Stephen Brown
Affiliation:
University of Waterloo

Abstract

The association of institutional relocation and mortality among elderly patients has been the subject of considerable debate, in part, because of equivocal findings in the literature. However, much of the research in this area is limited by small sample sizes, use of arbitrary follow-up periods and crude statistical methods. The present analyses are based on six years of mortality data in a chronic care hospital that experienced a mass relocation of patients to a new facility. After adjusting for age, gender and length of stay before follow-up, the odds ratio for mortality associated with relocation was 1.53.

Résumé

Le lien entre le relogement des patients âgés et leur taux de mortalité continue de faire l'objet de nombreux débats à cause, en partie du moins, des résultats équivoques des travaux scientifiques. La plupart des recherches dans ce domaine sont toutefois limitées par la petite taille des échantillons, l'utilisation de périodes de suivi arbitraires et l'emploi de méthodes statistiques peu précises. Les analyses présentées ici reposent sur les données de mortalité d'une période de six ans accumulées par une unité pour les maladies chroniques. Les patients de cet établissement ont été relogés en grand nombre dans une nouvelle unité. En tenant compte de l'âge, du sexe et de la durée du séjour avant le suivi, le risque relatif de mortalité lié au relogement était de 1,53.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Borap, J.H., Gallego, D.T., & Heffernan, P.G. (1980). Relocation: Its effect on health, functioning and mortality. The Gerontologist, 20, 468479.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bourestom, N., & Pastalan, L. (1981). The effects of relocation on the elderly. The Gerontologist, 21, 47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coffman, T.L. (1981). Relocation and survival of institutionalized aged: A re-examination of the evidence. The Gerontologist, 21, 483500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, D.R. (1972). Regression models and life tables (with discussion). Journal of the Royal Statistical Society B, 34, 187220.Google Scholar
Harwood, R.H., & Ebrahim, S. (1992). Is relocation harmful to institutionalized elderly people? Age and Ageing, 21, 6166.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hirdes, J.P., & Brown, K.S. (1994). The statistical analysis of event histories in longitudinal studies of aging. Canadian Journal on Aging, 13(3), 332352.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirdes, J.P., & Martin, N.S. (1993). The specification of levels of active intervention in a chronic care hospital. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 12(2), 125138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jasnau, K.F. (1967). Individualized versus mass transfer of nonpsychotic geriatric patients from mental hospitals to nursing homes, with special reference to death rate. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 15, 280284.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Markson, E.W., & Cumming, J.H. (1974). A strategy of necessary mass transfer and its impact on potential patient mortality. Age and Ageing, 21, 6166.Google Scholar
Matthews, D.E., & Farewell, V.T. (1988). Using and Understanding Medical Statistics (2nd ed.). New York: Karger.Google Scholar
Mirotznik, J., & Ruskin, A.P. (1984). Inter-institutional relocation and its effects on health. The Gerontologist, 24, 286291.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pablo, R.Y. (1977). Intra-institutionalization relocation: Its impact on long-term care patients. The Gerontologist, 17, 426435.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
SAS Institute. (1991). SAS/STAT Software: The PHREG Procedure. Cary, NC: Karger.Google Scholar
Schulz, R., & Brenner, G. (1977). Relocation of the aged: A review and theoretical analysis. Journal of Gerontology, 32, 323333.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zweig, J.P., & Csank, J.Z. (1976). Mortality fluctuations among chronically ill medical geriatric patients as an indicator of stress before and after relocation. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 24, 264277.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed