How different are VA nursing home residents?

OBJECTIVE

To identify similarities and differences between VA nursing home residents and other nursing home residents.

DESIGN

Comparison of cross-sectional data from three sources.

PARTICIPANTS

Residents of VA nursing homes nationwide in early October 1986 (n = 10,117); participants in the 1985 National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS) (n = 5,243); residents assessed in New York State nursing homes in 1988 (n = 94,840).

MEASURES

Age-stratified comparisons were made between the VA and the NNHS for gender, marital status, race, ethnicity, length of stay, activities of daily living (ADL) status, and selected diagnoses and conditions. Additionally, case-mix data were compared between the VA and the New York State populations.

MAIN RESULTS

The population of VA nursing homes is overwhelmingly men (96.1% versus 28.4% in the NNHS), and 31.2% of the VA population is under 65 years of age compared with 11.6% in the NNHS. Young ( < 65) VA residents are considerably more impaired in ADL than young residents in the NNHS; differences are less pronounced in those over 65 years old. VA case mix is slightly higher than the overall New York State population though the distribution of residents into categories in the Resource Utilization Groups, Version II system is somewhat different.

CONCLUSIONS

VA nursing homes contain a substantial distinctive population of seriously impaired residents under 65 years of age. Though differences exist, older VA residents have many similarities to residents of non-VA nursing homes and constitute a functionally impaired population that can provide insights into the status of nursing home residents generally.