Table 1.
Characteristics and outcomes among nursing homes with a low and high crowding index in Ontario, Canada
| All homes (n=588) | Homes with low (<2·0) crowding index (n=337) | Homes with high (≥2·0) crowding index (n=251) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Facility characteristics | ||||
| Crowding index | 1·9 (1·4–2·5) | 1·5 (1·4–1·6) | 2·5 (2·4–2·6) | |
| Ownership | ||||
| Municipal | 96 (16·3%) | 95 (28·2%) | 1 (0·4%) | |
| Private, for-profit | 343 (58·3%) | 123 (36·5%) | 220 (87·6%) | |
| Private, non-profit | 149 (25·3%) | 119 (35·3%) | 30 (12·0%) | |
| Number of beds | 130 (75–160) | 149 (101–175) | 105 (60–126) | |
| Occupancy rate, % | 98·2 (97·5–100) | 98·5 (97·9–99·6) | 97·8 (96·7–100·0) | |
| Resident characteristics | ||||
| Mean age, years | 83·5 (82·2–85·1) | 84·5 (83·4–85·7) | 82·1 (80·6–84·0) | |
| Women, % | 68·6% (64·2–73·3) | 70·2% (66·7–74·0) | 66·4% (60·7–72·6) | |
| Clinical diagnosis of dementia, % | 60·8% (54·0–67·9) | 62·7% (55·6–69·0) | 58·4% (50·0–65·2) | |
| Clinical diagnosis of diabetes, % | 28·0% (23·5–31·9) | 26·3% (22·8–29·8) | 30·2% (25·6–34·8) | |
| Clinical diagnosis of chronic heart failure, % | 3·6% (1·9–4·8) | 3·4% (1·7–4·6) | 3·9% (2·1–5·1) | |
| Clinical diagnosis of renal failure, % | 3·3% (1·4–4·3) | 3·1% (1·3–4·2) | 3·5% (1·7–4·6) | |
| Clinical diagnosis of cancer, % | 2·9% (1·2–4·0) | 2·9% (1·1–3·9) | 3·0% (1·3–4·1) | |
| Clinical diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, % | 4·5% (2·3–5·8) | 3·9% (2·1–5·2) | 5·3% (3·1–6·8) | |
| Mean activities of daily living score | 3·9 (3·6–4·1) | 3·9 (3·6–4·2) | 3·8 (3·6–4·1) | |
| Outcomes | ||||
| Infections, n per 100 resident-years | 19·2 (8·8–25·9) | 13·8 (7·2–18·6) | 26·4 (13·4–34·9) | |
| Deaths, n per 100 resident-years | 0·6 (0·1–0·8) | 0·4 (0·1–0·6) | 0·8 (0·3–1·1) | |
| Outbreak frequency, n per home-year | 1·7 (0·8–2·4) | 1·7 (0·8–2·2) | 1·7 (0·8–2·4) | |
| Mean outbreak size, % of home residents | 13·1% (7·3–17·0) | 9·8% (5·9–11·6) | 17·6% (11·2–21·2) | |
Data are n (%) or median (IQR). For resident characteristics and outcomes, we first measured the facility means (for continuous variables) or percentages (for binary outcomes) for all 588 facilities, and then reported the median and IQR of these facility-level variables. *Score of 0 (independence) to 6 (total dependence).