Table 2.
Resident characteristics, treatment, and mortality
| Pre-intervention phase | Intervention phase | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | All (n = 399) | Control (n = 98) | Intervention (n = 112) | Control (n = 80) | Intervention (n = 109) |
| Demographics | |||||
| Female, % (n) | 57.9 (231) | 62.2 (61) | 54.5 (61) | 67.5 (54)2 | 50.5 (55)2 |
| Age, mean (SD) | 84.2 (7.6) | 84.3 (7.3) | 85.6 (6.3)1 | 83.7 (8.4) | 83.3 (8.1)1 |
| Length of stay, months, median (interquartile range) | 18 (30) | 17 (29) | 23 (32) 1 | 22 (38) 2 | 12 (27) 1, 2 |
| Dementia type, % (n) | |||||
| Alzheimer’s | 37.8 (151) | 34.7 (34) | 36.6 (41) | 41.2 (33) | 39.4 (43) |
| Vascular | 21.1 (84) | 21.4 (21) | 21.4 (24) | 21.2 (17) | 20.2 (22) |
| Mixed | 15.3 (61) | 12.2 (12)2 | 23.2 (26)2, 1 | 12.5 (10) | 11.9 (13)1 |
| Other | 8.3 (33) | 7.1 (7) | 7.1 (8) | 3.8 (3)2 | 13.8 (15)2 |
| Unknown | 17.6 (70) | 24.5 (24)2 | 11.6 (13)2 | 21.2 (17) | 14.7 (16) |
| Dementia severity, mean BANS-S score, mean (SD) | 16.1 (4.6) | 15.7 (4.7) | 16.6 (4.8) | 15.9 (4.6) | 16.0 (4.5) |
| Full ADL dependency, % (n) | 15.1 (55) | 15.1 (13) | 18.0 (18)1 | 20.5 (16)2 | 8.0 (8)1, 2 |
| Dressing | 44.5 (165) | 45.3 (39) | 52.5 (53)1 | 42.9 (33) | 37.0 (37)1 |
| Walking | 35.8 (129) | 38.1 (32) | 39.8 (39) | 37.2 (29) | 29.0 (29) |
| Eating | 22 (81) | 21.6 (19) | 28.4 (29)1 | 24.4 (19) | 14.0 (14)1 |
| Hydration status,* dehydrated, % (n) | 31.2 (123) | 39.8 (39)1 | 30.6 (34) | 24.4 (19)1 | 29.0 (31) |
| Clinical judgment of illness severity (range 1–9), mean (SD) | 5.3 (1.5) | 5.3 (1.3) | 5.6 (1.5) | 5.2 (1.4) | 5.3 (1.6) |
| Prognostic score (range 0–31), mean (SD) | 14.2 (5.4) | 14.7 (5.6) | 14.0 (5.5) | 14.2 (5.9) | 13.9 (5.3) |
| Comfort goal, % (n) | 62.2 (248) | 62.2 (61) | 63.4 (71) | 67.5 (54) | 56.9 (62) |
| Antibiotic treatment, % (n) | 87.1 (344) | 89.8 (88) | 88.3 (89) | 82.1 (64) | 86.9 (93) |
| Observed non-pharmacological measures** | 52.9 (211) | 52.0 (51) | 49.1 (55) | 62.5 (50) | 50.5 (55) |
| Death within 14 days | 20.2 (80) | 24.7 (24) | 17.1 (19) | 18.8 (15) | 20.2 (22) |
| Death within 6 months | 43.6 (154) | 44.6 (41) | 36.9 (41) | 44.9 (31) | 40.6 (41) |
*Hydration status as judged by the attending physician; “mildly dehydrated,” “dehydrated,” and “severely dehydrated” were combined into “dehydrated”
**Observed non-pharmacological measures during at least one observation day between day 1 and day 5 from diagnosis
1Significant difference between pre-intervention and intervention phase in control homes and intervention homes (p < 0.05)
2Significant difference between control homes and intervention homes during pre-intervention and intervention phase (p < 0.05)