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. 2009 Aug 4;339:b2732. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b2732

Table 3.

 Characteristics of studies comparing private for-profit and private not-for-profit nursing home quality of care

Study Place; year; data source*; No of residents or nursing homes Factors controlled or adjusted for
Appropriate: age, severity of illness, severity of dementia, and payment status adjustments Inappropriate: quality measures used in other studies; measures of intensity of care
Levey et al 1973w1 Massachusetts; 1965 and 1969; state public health department; 129 homes in each year Payment status None
Cohen and Dubay 1990w2 United States; 1981; MMACS; 694 FP and 235 private NFP homes Severity of illness (long term care index of function), dementia (% confused or disoriented), payment status (% of Medicare patients in facility) None
Elwell 1984w3 New York state; 1976; Residential Health Care Facilities Report (NY); 258 FP and 130 private NFP homes Severity of illness (ADLs), dementia (proportion of residents with totally impaired alertness), payment status (proportion of days paid for by Medicaid) None
Lee 1984w4 Iowa; 1980-1; Iowa Department of Health; 254 FP and 103 private NFP homes Unadjusted analysis Unadjusted analysis
Wiesbrod and Schlesinger 1986w5 Wisconsin; 1976; State Division of Health; 220 FP and 134 private NFP homes Adjusted analysis but none of 4 selected appropriate factors included None
Lemke and Moos 1989w6 United States; year not listed; research nurses; 44 FP and 44 private NFP homes Unadjusted analysis Unadjusted analysis
Pearson et al 1992w7 Australia; 1988-90; authors collected data; 120 FP and 80 private NFP homes Severity of illness (% of high need residents) Staffing (% of nurses who were RNs)
Graber 1993w8 North Carolina; 1991; OSCAR; 167 FP and 14 private NFP homes Unadjusted analysis Unadjusted analysis
Aaronson et al 1994w9 Pennsylvania; 1987; MMACS; 269 FP and 180 private NFP homes Varied by analysis: staffing—severity of illness (long term care index of resident function), payment status; pressure sores—age (% aged ≥85), severity of illness (long term care index of resident function), payment status; restraint use—dementia (proportion of confused patients per 100 beds), payment status (Medicaid use rate) Varied by analysis: staffing—none; pressure sores—restraint use; restraint use—RN to resident ratio
Moseley 1994w10 Virginia; 1983-5; state medical assistance services using long-term care information system; 174 homes with 2362 FP and 787 private NFP residents Age, severity of illness (ADLs), dementia (oriented/disoriented) None
Sainfort et al 1995w11 Wisconsin; 1982; research teams; 44 FP and 46 private NFP homes Unadjusted analysis Unadjusted analysis
Holmes 1996w12 Michigan; 1989; MMACS; 275 FP and 60 private NFP homes Severity of illness (ADLs), payment status (% Medicaid patient days), dementia (% of residents with cognitive deficiencies) None
Johnson-Pawlson and Infeld 1996w13 Maryland; 1991-2; OSCAR; 137 FP and 55 private NFP homes Severity of illness (ADLs), payment status (% of residents covered by Medicare) Staffing (RN and full time equivalent nurse positions/patient)
Spector and Fortinsky 1998w14 Ohio; 1994; MDS; 843 homes Age, dementia (cognitive performance) None
Spector et al 1998w15 United States; 1987; NMES; 1695 FP and 535 private NFP homes Age, dementia, payment status (Medicaid coverage %) None
Hughes et al 2000w16 Continental United States; 1997; OSCAR; 10 666 FP and 3342 private NFP homes Dementia, payment status Staffing (in facility model), antidepressant drug use
Troyer 2001w17 Florida; 1994-6; OSCAR; unclear Payment status (private pay/Medicaid/Medicare funding) None
Chou 2002w18 United States; 1984-94; NLTCS; 1770 FP and 1044 private NFP residents Age, severity of illness (ADLs, before admission), dementia (cognitive score on admission) None
Harrington et al 2002w19 United States; 1997-8; OSCAR; 9009 FP and 3789 private NFP homes Severity of illness (ADLs), dementia (in secondary analysis only), payment status (% Medicaid residents) None
Grabowski and Hirth 2003w20 United States; 1995; OSCAR; 11 174 FP and 4688 private NFP homes Severity of illness (ADLs), payment status None
Berta et al 2004w21 Ontario; 1996-2002; RCFS; not clear Unadjusted analysis Unadjusted analysis
Grabowski and Angelelli 2004w22 United States; 1998-2000; OSCAR and MDS; 9478 FP and 3434 private NFP homes Adjusted analysis but none of 4 selected appropriate factors included None
Grabowski and Castle 2004w23 United States; 1991-9; OSCAR; 18 432 homes, selecting those with 5 consecutive yearly assessments with upper and lower quartile scores for each quality measure Unadjusted analysis Unadjusted analysis
Grabowski 2004w24 Continental United States; 1996; MEPS and OSCAR; 815 homes, with 1856 FP and 673 private NFP residents Age, severity of illness (ADLs), dementia, payment status None
Grabowski et al 2004w25 United States; 1998-9; MDS and OSCAR; 15 128 homes (13 819 for daily pain information, 13 169 for pressure ulcer information, 13 859 for physical restraint information) Adjusted analysis but none of 4 selected appropriate factors included None
Konetzka et al 2004w26 United States; 1996-2000; OSCAR; 11 968 FP and 5077 private NFP homes Severity of illness (ADLs), dementia (% with), payment status (% private pay) None
Konetzkaet al 2004w27 United States; 1996; MEPS; 529 FP and 192 private NFP residents Severity of illness (ADL dependence), dementia (cognitive performance), payment status (payer source) Staffing (RNs and LPNs/100 residents, nursing assistants/100 residents
Lapane and Hughes 2004w28 Ohio; 1997 and 2000; MDS; 390 FP and 109 private NFP in 1997; 391 FP and 114 private NFP homes in 2000 Age, dementia, payment status (% of residents with Medicaid/Medicare) None
Lapane and Hughes 2004w29 IL, MA, MS, NY, OH, and SD; 2000; MDS and OSCAR; 1560 FP and 494 private NFP homes Age, dementia (cognitive functioning), payment status (% of residents being paid for by Medicare/Medicaid) Staffing (RN and LPN full time equivalents, and nursing assistants per 100 beds)
Rantz et al 2004w30 Missouri; 2000-1; MDS and research nurses; 60 FP and 26 private NFP homes Unadjusted analysis Unadjusted analysis
Zhang and Grabowski 2004w31 United States; 1987—MMACS, 1993—OSCAR; 5092 facilities for matched analysis between the 2 years Severity of illness (ADL score), payment status (proportion Medicare funded) None
Akinci and Krolikowski 2005w32 Northeastern Pennsylvania; 2000-2; OSCAR; 46 FP homes and 38 private NFP homes Unadjusted analysis Unadjusted analysis
Bardenheier et al 2005w33 United States; 1995, 1997, and 1999; NNHS; 1409 homes in 1995, 1488 in 1997, and 1423 in 1999 Age, payment status (payment source) None
Zinn et al 2005w34 United States; 2002-3; MDS; 10 763 FP, 4802 private NFP, 994 public Adjusted analysis but none of 4 selected appropriate factors included None

ADLs=activities of daily living; LPN=licensed practical nurse; FP=for-profit; NFP=not-for-profit; RN=registered nurse.

*MDS (minimum data set): quarterly survey of residents in US Medicaid certified facilities (resident level quality assessed); MMACS (Medicare and Medicaid Automated Certification System)/OSCAR (Online Survey, Certification and Reporting): facility level survey completed every 9-15 months for US Medicare/Medicaid certification (OSCAR replaced MMACS in 1991); MEPS (Medical Expenditure Panel Survey): see NMES; NMES (National (US) Medical Expenditure Survey): survey of nationally representative sample of people in nursing and personal care homes and facilities for mentally challenged people (collects information on health expenditures); NLTCS (National (US) Long Term Care Survey): survey of nationally representative sample of elderly, disabled, Medicaid beneficiaries in community or institutional settings (tracks expenditures, family caregiving, and Medicaid service use); NNHS (National (US) Nursing Home Survey): survey of nationwide sample of nursing homes conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (includes non-Medicare/Medicaid facilities; tracks service use and costs); OSCAR: see MMACS; RCFS (Residential Care Facilities Survey): Statistics Canada census of residential care facilities.