Therapy use and discharge outcomes for elderly nursing home residents

This study examines therapy use and discharge outcomes (community discharge , mortality, or remaining in the facility) over a 90-day period for 1,419 e lderly, post-acute care nursing home admissions in South Dakota. Subjects m et criteria as rehabilitation candidates (i.e., absence of serious behavior al or medical conditions that would limit rehabilitation potential). Receip t of therapies was related significantly to age (younger), Medicare coverag e, hip fracture or stroke diagnosis, absence of cancer diagnosis, and resid ent or staff expectations for functional improvement. Therapy use was relat ed positively to community discharge and negatively to mortality when contr olling for covariates such as age, marital status, payment source, function al status, cognitive status, and major diagnoses. Also, community discharge was related positively to the facility's volume of therapy provision and p ercentage of Medicare-covered stays.