HOSPITAL AND NURSING-HOME USE IN THE LAST 3 MONTHS OF LIFE

We describe decedents' days of care and changes in residence due to ep isodes of hospital and institutional care in the last 90 days of life. Data are from the National Institute on Aging's Survey of the Last Da ys of Life (SLDOL) with informants' responses for a sample of 1,227 de cedents age 65 years and older from Fairfield County, Connecticut, Ove rall, three-fourths of the decedents made only one transition to or fr om a health care facility in the last 3 months of life and another 10% made two or three transitions. Hospital days decreased slightly with age, but nursing home days increased dramatically. physical disability , lack of social contacts, incontinence, and a diagnosis of dementia w ere significantly associated with a long, terminal, institutional stay , Future cost savings are likely to be achieved more through the reduc tion of nursing home care in the last months of life than in a reducti on of hospital care.