Elderly/Long-term Care

Do Trends in the Reporting of Quality Measures on the Nursing Home Compare Web Site Differ by Nursing Home Characteristics? J. Zinn, W. Spector, L. Hsieh, et al., The Gerontologist 45(6): December 2005, 720-730. Examines the relationship between the first set of quality measures published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on the Nursing Home Compare Web site and five nursing home structural characteristics: ownership, chain affiliation, size, occupancy, and hospital-based versus freestanding status. (AHRQ 06-R019)

Effect on Health Outcomes of a Community-Based Medication Therapy Management Program for Seniors with Limited Incomes. S. Smith, D. Catellier, E. Conlisk, et al., American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy 63: February 15, 2006, 372-376. Evaluates the effects of a novel, comprehensive, community-based program that integrates medication therapy management services by pharmacists with prescription drug assistance for seniors with limited incomes. (AHRQ 06-R036)

Effects of Nursing Home Ownership Type and Resident Payer Source on Hospitalization for Suspected Pneumonia. R. Konetzka, W. Spector, T. Shaffer, Medical Care 42(10): October 2004, 1001-1008. Examines the role of proprietary status in the decision to hospitalize residents with suspected pneumonia, controlling for facility-and resident-level factors. (AHRQ 05-R002)

Gender Differences in Drug Use and Expenditures in a Privately Insured Population of Older Adults. R. Correade-Araujo, E. Miller, J. Banthin, et al., Journal of Women's Health 14(1): January 2005, 73-81. Examines gender differences in use and expenditures for prescription drugs among Medicare and privately insured adults aged 65 and over, using data on a nationally representative sample of prescription drug purchases collected for the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component. (AHRQ 05-R019)

Hospitalization and Death Associated with Potentially Inappropriate Medication Prescriptions Among Elderly Nursing Home Residents. D. Lau, J. Kasper, D. Potter, et al., Archives of Internal Medicine 165: January 2005, 68-74. Discusses the association of potentially inappropriate medication prescriptions with subsequent adverse outcomes (hospitalization and death), and provides new evidence of the importance of improving prescribing practices in the nursing home setting. (AHRQ 05-R024)

Illness Severity and Propensity to Travel Along the Urban-Rural Continuum. J. Basu, L. Mobley, Health & Place Corrected Proof, Available online May 12, 2006. Examines whether the relationship between severity of illness and the propensity to travel greater distance relative to the norm is uniform across the urban-rural continuum of geography or over time. Focuses on the elderly in New York State who have been admitted to a hospital for ambulatory care sensitive conditions. (AHRQ 06-R077)

Inappropriate Medication Use in the Elderly. C. Zahn, Journal of the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin May/June 2005, 29-33. Discusses the definition, epidemiology, solutions, and new developments on the issue of inappropriate medication use in the elderly, including the publication of explicit criteria for screening. (AHRQ 05-R058)

The Influence of Rural Location on Utilization of Formal Home Care: The Role of Medicaid. W. McAuley, W. Spector, J. Nostrand, et al., The Gerontologist 44(5):2004, 655-664. Examines the impact of rural-urban residence on formal home-care utilization among older people, and determines whether and how Medicaid coverage influences the association between ruralurban location and risk of formal home-care use. (AHRQ 05-R010)

National Estimates of Medication Use in Nursing Homes: Findings from the 1997 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey and the 1996 Medical Expenditure Survey. J. Doshi, T. Shaffer, B. Briesacher, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 53(3): July 2005, 438-443. Provides the first nationwide estimates of medication use in nursing homes and introduces a new data set for examining drug use in long-term care facilities. (AHRQ 05-R057)

Nursing Home Spending Patterns in the 1990s: The Role of Nursing Home Competition and Excess Demand. D. Mukamel, W. Spector, A. Bajorska, HSR: Health Services Research 40(4): August 2005, 1040-1055. Examines nursing home expenditures on clinical, hotel, and administrative activities during the 1990s and determines the association between nursing home competition and excess demand on expenditures. (AHRQ 05-R068)

OBRA 1987 and the Quality of Nursing Home Care. V. Kumar, E. Norton, W. Encinosa, International Journal of Health Care Finance Economics 6:2006, 49-81. Presents a general theory of how government regulation of quality of care may affect different market segments, particularly the nursing home market. (AHRQ 06-R069)

Pneumonia in Nursing Home Residents: Factors Associated with In-Home Care of EverCare Enrollees. T. Rector, W. Spector, T. Shaffer, et al. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 53(3): March 2005, 472-477. Identifies determinants of whether nursing home residents enrolled in EverCare were admitted to in-home intensive service days rather than a hospital when they were thought to have pneumonia. (AHRQ 05-R055)

Potentially Inappropriate Medication Prescriptions Among Elderly Nursing Home Residents: Their Scope and Associated Resident and Facility Characteristics. D. Lau, J. Kasper, D. Potter, et al., HSR: Health Services Research 39(5): October 2004, 1257-1276. Finds that, at minimum, 50 percent of all residents aged 65 or older with a nursing home stay of 3 months or longer received at least one potentially inappropriate medication prescription in 1996. Factors associated with lower odds of potentially inappropriate medication prescriptions were fewer medications, residents with communication problems, and being an accredited nursing home. (AHRQ 05-R022)

Severity of Illness, Race, and Choice of Local Versus Distant Hospitals Among the Elderly. J. Basu, Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 16:2005, 391-405. Examines travel patterns for hospitalization among elderly patients to address whether there are differences by age and race/ethnicity, and whether the differences persist even when a severe illness occurs. Focuses on New York residents in the 65-and-over age group who are hospitalized in New York or neighboring States. (AHRQ 05-R054)

Suboptimal Prescribing in Elderly Outpatients: Potentially Harmful Drug-Drug and Drug-Disease Combinations. C. Zhan, R. Correa-de-Araujo, A. Bierman, et al., Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 53(2): February 2005, 262-267. Measures incidences of six drug-drug combinations and 50 drug-disease combinations that can place elderly patients at risk for adverse events according to expert consensus panels. (AHRQ 05-R041)

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