3 YEAR OUTCOME OF THE RESIDENTS IN A SPECIAL NURSING-HOME

The 3 year outcome of 48 residents in a special nursing home was inves tigated, using Hasegawa's dementia rating scale (HDS) and activities o f daily living (ADL). For all the residents, HDS score correlates well with age (P < 0.01) and ADL score (P < 0.001). Nineteen residents (40 .4%) died during the period surveyed. Two-thirds of the residents with low ADL score died during the period, whereas 70% of the residents wi th high ADL score are alive. Of these scales, ADL correlated well with the fatal prognosis, suggesting that ADL is a valuable prognostic too l. As for the causes of death, pulmonary disease was prominent (n = 12 , 63.2%). Consequently, the prevention of pulmonary disease is needed to achieve a good outcome in the management of nursing home residents.