Dependency levels of elderly people in institutional care in Canterbury

All elderly persons in long term or social relief institutional care in the Canterbury area were assessed using a rating scale which assessed self care, continence, orientation and social integration. There was no difference in dependency in residents in homes provided by religious and welfare organisations compared with residents in homes provided by the private sector. Organisations providing a comprehensive service with flats, residential and hospital sections had lower dependency residents in the residential care section than institutions that provide home care alone. Public hospital long stay patients were significantly more dependent than private sector long stay patients. Of all subjects in residential homes and long term hospitals in Canterbury 49.3% were essentially independent in the dimensions assessed. This study adds further data concerning patterns of dependency of elderly subjects in institutional care.     

Dependency levels of people in aged care institutions in Auckland

Between January and June 1988, a survey of 7516 people in aged care facilities in the Auckland region (99.4% response rate) was undertaken to ascertain the extent and provision of care for elderly people requiring ongoing care in order to make comparisons with other centres in New Zealand. Information was gathered about their ability to perform various activities of daily living by staff members who completed a structured precoded and pretested questionnaire for each resident or patient. Overall levels of dependency were also assessed as part of the questionnaire: 13% were assessed as requiring long stay hospital care, 48% had moderate or appreciable dependency, and the remainder had some dependency (23%) or none at all (16%). Almost one quarter (23%) of the 5213 residents in old people's homes were rated as apparently independent. Of people in religious and welfare residential homes, 38% were rated as independent whereas in commercial rest homes 12% of people were classified in this way. This high level of apparent independence in religious and welfare homes is the main aspect in which the Auckland long term care scene is distinct from other regions in the country.     

Measuring care and dependency of elderly people in residential homes: an unreliable exercise.

OBJECTIVES: to determine the correlation between a scale measuring the amount of care required by people in rest homes and two scales, the Booth scale and the composite scale which measure dependency. To examine the scales for retest reliability. SUBJECTS: one hundred and twenty-five people aged 47 to 98 years, median age 84 years, living in seven rest homes in Dunedin. METHOD: subjects were assessed using the care, Booth and composite scales and the assessment repeated after four weeks. RESULTS: the care scale test-retest reliability based on rank order correlates was 0.86. For the physical care items retest reliability was high but supervision and the management of behavioural problems showed poor retest reliability. Correlation between the care scale and the two dependency scales was only moderate (composite scale 0.64, Booth scale 0.55). Behavioural problems and the time for supervision were assessed on the care scale only and it was these components which accounted for most of the poor correlation between the care and dependency scales. CONCLUSION: the time required for the management of behavioural problems and supervision for some people in rest homes was considerable. Measurement of this was difficult and made assessment of individual residents in homes unreliable.     

Changes in behavioural characteristics of elderly populations of local authority homes and long-stay hospital wards, 1976-7.

Behavioural characteristics of the elderly populations of seven local authority residential homes and three long-stay hospital wards were assessed in 1976 and 1977 with the Crichton Royal behavioural rating scale. In 1977 the levels of behavioural problems had increased in the residential homes, but declined in the hospital wards. Differences between the homes had decreased as the overall level of problems increased. The findings suggested that the additional burden of caring for increasing numbers of severely disabled elderly people was affecting the balance of institutional care, and a radical reappraisal of present patterns of care may be necessary to meet their future needs.     

Functional disability in residents of Auckland rest homes

OBJECT: to measure the extent of disability in residents of Auckland rest homes and to document any differences between religious and welfare homes and commercial homes. METHODS: analysis of a 36 item questionnaire on 2087 residents in 32 religious and welfare homes and 3126 residents in 191 commercial homes (98.7% response rate). RESULTS: residents in commercial homes were significantly more disabled than those in religious and welfare homes: 24% compared with 12% were incontinent, 62% and 31% confused, and 78% and 49% respectively needed assistance with mobility and selfcare. Of special concern were 7% and 3% who were doubly incontinent, 7% and 2% confused to the point of disturbing other residents, and 4% and 2% who met the criteria for hospital care. CONCLUSIONS: a significant number of residents were disabled and required help in important aspects of simple self care. Informed advice, variety, and choice in type of care are mandatory before entering a rest home. Homes must employ trained staff who can identify and minimise problems so as to ensure optimal quality of life for residents.     

Clinical medication review by a pharmacist of elderly people living in care homes: pharmacist interventions

Objectives To describe the rate and nature of pharmacist interventions following clinical medication review of elderly people living in care homes. Setting Care home residents aged 65+ years, prescribed at least one repeat medication, living in nursing, residential and mixed care homes for older people in Leeds, UK. Method Analysis of data from care home residents receiving clinical medication review in the intervention arm of a randomised controlled trial. Intervention outcomes for each medicine were evaluated for each resident. Key findings Three‐hundred and thirty‐one residents were randomised to receive a clinical medication review and 315 (95%) were reviewed by the study pharmacist; 256 (77%) residents had at least one recommendation made to the general practitioner. For the 2280 medicines prescribed, there were 672 medicine‐related interventions: medicines for cardiovascular system (167 (25%)), nutrition and blood (121 (18%)), central nervous system (113 (17%)) and gastrointestinal conditions (86 (13%)) accounted for 487 (73%) of medicine‐related interventions. There were 75 non‐medicine‐related interventions. The most common interventions were ‘technical’ (225 (30%)), ‘test to monitor medicine’ (161 (22%)), ‘stop drug’ (100 (13%)), ‘test to monitor conditions' (75 (10%)), ‘start drug’ (76 (10%)), ‘alter dose’ (40 (5%)) and ‘switch drug’ (37 (5%)). Recommendations to stop a medicine were most common for CNS drugs (32 (32%)). The most common medicine to be recommended to be started was calcium and vitamin D (45 (59%)). Following a recommendation to test to monitor a medicine, 23 (14%) medicines required a change. Conclusions This study has demonstrated that clinical medication review by a pharmacist can identify medicine problems in approximately 80% of care home residents, requiring intervention in 1 in 4 of their prescribed medications.     

Use of benzodiazepines and benzodiazepine-related drugs among 223 patients with an acute hip fracture in Finland: Comparison of benzodiazepine findings in medical records and laboratory assays

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: CNS drugs are a risk factor for falls and fractures among older people. Our aim was to describe the use of benzodiazepines and benzodiazepine-related drugs among patients admitted to two Finnish hospitals as a result of an acute hip fracture, and to analyse the concordance of benzodiazepine findings from different data sources. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We studied the use of benzodiazepines and benzodiazepine-related drugs by (i) asking the patient or his/her relatives about his/her use of hypnotics; (ii) checking the patient's medical records; and (iii) analysing for the presence of benzodiazepines in serum and urine. Blood and urine samples were taken at admission. Detection of benzodiazepines in serum and urine was achieved by the fluorescence polarisation method. Concordance in benzodiazepine findings between medical records and laboratory results was estimated by calculating the degree of agreement (kappa) and described graphically using a Venn diagram. RESULTS: A total of 223 patients were enrolled in the study. Of these, 71% were women. The mean age of women was 80.5 years (SD: 10) and of men, 73 years (SD: 12) [p < 0.0001]. Thirty percent of the patients reported that they used hypnotics. Benzodiazepine in serum or urine was detected in 83 (37%) patients. Over half of the patients coming from residential homes (53%) and institutions (54%) were benzodiazepine-positive. For home dwellers the proportion of patients that were benzodiazepine-positive was 29%. In 48% (40/83) of the benzodiazepine-positive patients, the type of benzodiazepine could not be identified because of a lack of drug records regarding benzodiazepines. A total of 113 (51%) patients used benzodiazepines or benzodiazepine-related drugs when both laboratory results and medical drug records were taken into account. Thirty-nine percent of these patients were home dwellers, 69% came from residential care and 76% from institutional care. The concordance between medical records and laboratory results expressed as overlap area was 32% in men and 59% in women, 38% in community-dwelling patients, 63% in residential home patients, and 68% in patients from institutions. CONCLUSION: Half of patients with an acute hip fracture used benzodiazepines or benzodiazepine-related drugs. The highest prevalences were found in institutional and residential care where it should be well known that the use of CNS drugs increases the risk of hip fracture. Concordance of benzodiazepine findings was moderate in all patients and poorest among men. Concordance was poorer among home dwellers than among those living in residential homes and institutions. Analysing benzodiazepine in serum seems to be the most reliable method for ascertaining benzodiazepine exposure. This laboratory test could be performed routinely when the elderly patient is admitted to hospital because of a fall or, at least, in case of hip fracture. Then, if needed, the patient should be informed about the risks of benzodiazepine use, and further falls and fractures could be prevented.     

Information is care: the need for data to assess the quality of care in UK nursing and residential homes

Prescribing is the most common medical intervention experienced by elderly residents in nursing and residential care homes. However, research would suggest that these residents may be subject to poor prescribing, with excessive use of some drugs and underprescribing of potentially beneficial drugs. At a more fundamental level, there is also evidence that poor medication record-keeping for nursing home residents is prevalent in nursing homes, general practice surgeries and community pharmacies. This may increase the risk of an adverse drug event. Furthermore, there is a lack of data on prescribing in UK nursing homes, which militates against assessing the quality of drug use. Consideration needs to be given to the structures and processes currently in place in order to promote better prescribing outcomes for this vulnerable population.     

Information is care: the need for data to assess the quality of care in UK nursing and residential homes

Prescribing is the most common medical intervention experienced by elderly residents in nursing and residential care homes. However, research would suggest that these residents may be subject to poor prescribing, with excessive use of some drugs and underprescribing of potentially beneficial drugs. At a more fundamental level, there is also evidence that poor medication record-keeping for nursing home residents is prevalent in nursing homes, general practice surgeries and community pharmacies. This may increase the risk of an adverse drug event. Furthermore, there is a lack of data on prescribing in UK nursing homes, which militates against assessing the quality of drug use. Consideration needs to be given to the structures and processes currently in place in order to promote better prescribing outcomes for this vulnerable population.     

An assessment of pharmaceutical inspection reports from nursing and residential homes for the elderly in Northern Ireland

Objectives To highlight issues currently being inspected in nursing, residential and dual‐registered homes (care homes) for the elderly in Northern Ireland as part of a pharmaceutical inspection. Methods A cross‐sectional survey and analysis of reports from pharmaceutical inspections in Northern Ireland care homes between January 1999 and December 2000 was undertaken, using reports provided by the four Registration and Inspection Units (R & I Units 1–4) within the region. Reports were reviewed and all recommendations made by inspectors were classified into 11 main categories. Binary logistic regression was used to examine possible relationships between the type of home (nursing, residential or dual‐registered) or the R & I unit and the recommendations made by the inspectors, with corresponding odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Key findings Reports from 415 homes (one report per home) formed the final sample for analysis. Each R & I unit used different documentation to conduct a pharmaceutical inspection. Homes received the majority of recommendations from inspectors in the categories ‘Records’ (66.7% of all homes), ‘Policies and protocols’ (39.3%) and ‘Medication’ (31.8%). More recommendations in a number of categories emanated from R & I unit 4 compared with R & I unit 1 (referent). Dual‐registered homes (those registered as a nursing and residential facility) were more likely to receive a recommendation in the categories ‘Storage of medicine’, ‘Order and receipt of medication’ and ‘Equipment’ than nursing or residential homes. Conclusion Inspections of care homes should be standardised in terms of documentation used and facilities should be given guidance on issues that are likely to result in recommendations from inspectors. In the longer‐term, pharmaceutical inspections should move from a focus on structure/process measures to those that emphasise quality in prescribing.     

Assessment of a United States pharmaceutical care model for nursing homes in the United Kingdom.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the suitability of an American model of pharmaceutical care for nursing home residents (The Fleetwood model) for application in nursing homes in the United Kingdom. METHOD: Pharmacists (those from a hospital setting or involved in prescribing support), general practitioners, nursing home managers and advocates for older people were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews or focus groups. The American Fleetwood model was explained to all participants who were asked for their views and opinions on how such a model could be adapted for use in the UK setting. All interviews and focus groups were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using the framework method. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: An adapted model of pharmaceutical care for use in UK nursing homes. RESULTS: There was general concern about prescribing in nursing homes, particularly in relation to psychoactive drugs. All participants were supportive of the proposed model of care and endorsed the greater involvement of pharmacists. However, participants also recognised that unlike pharmacists in the US nursing home setting for which the Fleetwood model had been developed, pharmacists implementing this approach in the UK would face major challenges in relation to access to records (medical and medication), prescribers and residents. CONCLUSION: The findings highlighted the key elements of access which will need to be considered if this model of pharmaceutical care is to be applied to nursing home residents in the UK. IMPACT OF FINDINGS ON PRACTICE: The model has been revised to take account of the challenges relating to access and will be tested in a randomised controlled trial.     

Use of Medicines that Influence Falls or Fractures in a Residential Home Setting

Objective: To study the pattern of use of medicines that may contribute to, or protect against, falls and fractures in the setting of a UK residential home population, and to compare the results with a similar study conducted in 2001.Setting and method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2003 in 18 residential homes. A trained community pharmacist visited the homes to retrieve information about use of medicines whilst demographic details were provided by the residential home staff.Main outcome measure: The proportion of patients who were prescribed medicines with a potential positive benefit in preventing fractures, and medicines that may cause elderly people to fall.Results: The study population consisted of 581 residents. Compared to the 2001 study, the use of both calcium and vitamin D had increased significantly (8.3% versus 2.1%). Although, the overall prescribing of psychotropics in 2003 was relatively low, there was a trend for increased prescribing of these medicines which have been identified as risk factors for falling.Conclusion: In a residential home setting in the UK, the use of psychotropic drugs is not uncommon, whereas there is limited use of drugs that have the potential for preventing morbidity associated with falls.     

Influenza vaccination coverage in Canterbury rest homes

AIMS: First, to investigate the effect on Canterbury rest home residents of national policy making influenza vaccination free for those aged 65 years and over. Second, to assess rest home staff influenza vaccination coverage. METHODS: A comparison of influenza vaccination coverage in Canterbury rest home residents during 1996 and 1997 was conducted. Subgroups of rest homes were formed in 1997 to minimise the bias introduced through conducting a coverage survey in 1996. Staff vaccination coverage was also assessed in 1997. RESULTS: Influenza vaccination coverage of Canterbury rest home residents was 74% in 1996 and 76% in 1997. Staff vaccination coverage was 21% in 1997. Significantly more staff were vaccinated in rest homes that offered free influenza vaccination to their staff. CONCLUSIONS: The free influenza vaccination policy had no measurable impact on Canterbury rest home residents' vaccination coverage. This may be due to a ceiling effect of previously high coverage. Coverage was low amongst rest home staff. Providing the vaccination free of charge might improve staff coverage.     

Prevalence, clinical characteristics, and pharmacologic treatment of Parkinson's disease in residents in long-term care facilities. SAGE Study Group.

Despite the high prevalence of Parkinson's disease (PD) in the elderly, little information is available regarding the epidemiology of the disease in residents in long-term care facilities. Using a population-based database with over 470,000 residents (1992-1996) of all Medicare- or Medicaid-certified nursing homes of five states, we identified 24,402 residents with a diagnosis of PD. We examined data collected with the federally mandated Minimum Data Set, and sociodemographic, clinical, and treatment information. The prevalence of PD in nursing homes was 5.2%, with peak age-specific prevalence between ages 75 and 84 years. Seventy percent of patients had moderate to severe cognitive impairment, and over 80% had moderate to severe functional disability. Less than 10% had verbal and physical signs of grief and anxiety, and 80% exhibited poor psychosocial well-being, yet only 15% were actively treated for depression. Only 44% received antiparkinsonian drugs. Female gender, black race, age, level of cognitive impairment, and level of physical functioning were inversely related to the likelihood of receiving one of these drugs. When antipsychotic drugs were administered (15%), only 1% were atypical agents. Although PD is a relatively common diagnosis among nursing home residents, pharmacologic management of these individuals appears to be less than optimal.     

Factors influencing PRN medication use in nursing homes

OBJECTIVE: To identify determinants of PRN (as needed) drug use in nursing homes. Decisions about the use of these medications are made expressly by nursing home staff when general medical practitioners (GPs) prescribe medications for PRN use. METHOD: Cross-sectional drug use data were collected during a 7-day window from 13 Australian nursing homes. Information was collected on the size, staffing-mix, number of visiting GPs, number of medication rounds, and mortality rates in each nursing home. Resident specific measures collected included age, gender, length of stay, recent hospitalisation and care needs. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The number of PRN orders prescribed per resident and the number of PRN doses given per week averaged over the number of PRN medications given at all in the seven-day period. RESULTS: Approximately 35% of medications were prescribed for PRN use. Higher PRN use was found for residents with the lower care needs, recent hospitalisation and more frequent doses of regularly scheduled medications. With increasing length of stay, PRN medication orders initially increased then declined but the number of doses given declined from admission. While some resident-specific characteristics did influence PRN drug use, the key determinant for PRN medication orders was the specific nursing home in which a resident lived. Resident age and gender were not determinants of PRN drug use. CONCLUSION: The determinants of PRN drug use suggest that interventions to optimize PRN medications should target the care of individual residents, prescribing and the nursing home processes and policies that govern PRN drug use.     

Descriptive study and pharmacotherapeutic intervention in patients with epilepsy or Parkinson's disease at nursing homes in southern Sweden

OBJECTIVES: To describe the drug use in epilepsy and Parkinson's patients living in nursing homes and to evaluate the impact of multi-speciality team intervention on health-related quality of life, activities of daily living (ADL) and confusion state. METHODS: Nursing home residents with epilepsy or Parkinson's disease in the county of Sk?ne in Sweden were identified. From 119 nursing homes, 262 patients were identified. After obtaining informed consent, 157 patients from 48 nursing homes were included. Of these patients 74 were diagnosed with epilepsy and 84 with Parkinson's disease (one patient had both diagnoses). The average age of the epilepsy patients was 79 years and of the Parkinson's patients 81 years. Pharmacists documented the patients' drug use and any drug-related problems after communication with nursing-home residents, their contact persons at the nursing home and the residents' physicians. A multi-speciality group consisting of pharmacists, a primary care physician, a neurologist, a neuro-psychiatrist and a clinical pharmacologist evaluated the patients' medication and, when appropriate, suggested changes. Lists of each resident's medications were collected together with information about drug-related problems. The use of drugs deemed inappropriate for geriatric nursing-home residents according to Beer's criteria was documented. Health-related quality of life was evaluated using a generic health-related quality of life instrument, SF-36. Confusion state was measured using the Behaviour Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease Rating Scale (Behave-AD), and ability to perform ADL was assessed using the Schwab and England capacity for daily living scale. All measurements were repeated after approximately 6 months. During that period, for the group randomised to active intervention, the physicians involved in the care of the patients had received the recommendations for changes in drug treatment from the multi-speciality group. RESULTS: Epilepsy patients at nursing homes used on average 8.0 drugs for continuous use whereas Parkinson's patients used 8.6 drugs. According to Beer's criteria about 40% of both patient groups used drugs that are classified as inappropriate to geriatric nursing-home patients. Dopamine receptor-blocking psychotropic drugs were used by 29% of the Parkinson's patients. Indication for a patient's total drug treatment was not documented for 50% of epilepsy and 40% of Parkinson's patients. There were no significant differences between the active and control groups in changes in SF-36, Behave-AD or ADL for epilepsy patients. For Parkinson's patients there was a significant decrease in ADL for the active group, whereas there were no differences in SF-36 or Behave-AD. CONCLUSION: Nursing-home residents with epilepsy or Parkinson's disease use many drugs and often drugs that are classified as inappropriate. A simple problem-oriented questionnaire may be helpful in identifying specific drug-related problems in geriatric patients with common neurological diseases. Methods on how to improve the pharmacotherapy of these patients still have to be developed.