BACKGROUND

Home time, the number of days alive and spent out of hospital and skilled nursing facility, has been proposed as a patient-centered outcome that can be readily calculated in administrative claims data.

OBJECTIVES

To compare home time against existing patient-centered outcome measures.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

Community.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 4594 Medicare beneficiaries 65 years or older with complete survey and claims data in the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey 2010 to 2011.

MEASUREMENTS

Home time was calculated from the 2011 claims data (range, 0-365 days). The 1-year incidence of patient-centered outcomes (poor self-rated health, mobility impairment, depression, limited social activity, and difficulty in self-care) was measured. The minimum clinically important difference (MCID) was derived by contrasting the mean home time between those who experienced functional decline or death and those who did not.

RESULTS

The mean home time was 355.8 days (SD, 42.1 days); 84.1% had a home time of 365 days, and 5.7% had a home time of 336 days or fewer. The incidence of poor self-rated health ranged from 2% (home time, 365 days) to 21% (home time, less than 337 days). Similarly, the corresponding incidence risks were 11% to 59% for mobility impairment, 5% to 19% for depression, 17% to 67% for limited social activity, and 13% to 68% for difficulty in self-care. The risk of mobility impairment, depression, and difficulty in self-care increased steeply after home time loss of 15 days or greater. The MCID of home time was 18.6 days.

CONCLUSION

A loss in home time is associated with decline in several patient-centered outcome measures in community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries. These results provide empirical evidence to promote adoption of home time and its clinical interpretation for database studies of medical interventions. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:347-351, 2019.