Table 1.
Characteristics of long-term VA nursing home patients who died during a nursing home stay between 1 October 2006 and 30 September 2017 (n = 17,953)
| N | % | Mean | (SD) | Median | (Q1–Q3) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patient demographics | ||||||
| Age at admission, years | 17,953 | 80.2 | (8.2) | 81 | (74–87) | |
| Gender, n (%) | ||||||
| Male | 17,589 | 98.0% | ||||
| Female | 364 | 2.0% | ||||
| Race, n (%) | ||||||
| White | 13,566 | 82.5% | ||||
| Black | 2,429 | 14.8% | ||||
| Asian | 237 | 1.4% | ||||
| American Indian | 75 | 0.5% | ||||
| Multiple races | 147 | 0.9% | ||||
| Hispanic ethnicity, n (%) | ||||||
| No | 17,284 | 96.3% | ||||
| Yes | 669 | 3.7% | ||||
| Healthcare utilization | ||||||
| Length of nursing home stay, days | 17,953 | 476.8 | (534.2) | 275 | (157–619) | |
| End-of-life hospitalizations, n (%) | ||||||
| None | 14,204 | 79.1% | ||||
| 1 | 3,193 | 17.8% | ||||
| More than 1 | 556 | 3.1% | ||||
| Days in acute care, days | 17,953 | 8.4 | (15.7) | 0 | (0–11) | |
| Any hospice care, n (%) | 220 | 1.2% | ||||
| Palliative care consultations, n (%) | 5,987 | 33.4% | ||||
| Comorbidities at admission | ||||||
| Charlson Comorbidity Index | 17,953 | 4.9 | (3.3) | 4 | (2–7) | |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 13,890 | 77.4% | ||||
| Dementia, n (%) | 8,693 | 48.4% | ||||
| Coronary heart disease, n (%) | 7,641 | 42.6% | ||||
| Diabetes, n (%) | 7,215 | 40.2% | ||||
| Depression, n (%) | 6,761 | 37.7% | ||||
| Any malignancy, n (%) | 6,369 | 35.5% | ||||
| Heart failure, n (%) | 6,115 | 34.1% | ||||
| Cerebrovascular disease, n (%) | 5,772 | 32.2% | ||||
| Renal failure, n (%) | 5,257 | 29.3% | ||||
| Osteoarthritis, n (%) | 5,047 | 28.1% | ||||
| Atrial fibrillation, n (%) | 4,824 | 26.9% | ||||
| Peripheral vascular disease, n (%) | 4,597 | 25.6% | ||||
| Acute kidney injury, n (%) | 3,754 | 20.9% | ||||
| Metastatic cancer, n (%) | 2,409 | 13.4% | ||||
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, n (%) | 1,726 | 9.6% | ||||
| Medication use before death | ||||||
| Hypertensive medications, n (%) | 14,806 | 82.5% | ||||
| Percentage (%) of days covered* | 77.2 | (30.8) | 93.5 | (66.6–98.4) | ||
| No. of hypertensive medications | 3.1 | (1.9) | 3 | (2–4) |
Abbreviation: Q1–Q3, interquartile range.
aPercentage (%) of days covered is defined as the proportion of days in the 6 months prior to death that the patient received at least 1 hypertension medication.