The Prevalence of Chronic Diseases among Nursing Home Residents: Using the Minimum Data Set (MDS) of Missouri in the US

Lee, Eunjoo

Abstract

Due to great concern about quality of care in nursing home, legislative in the US mandated development of LTC MDS. MDS, a standardized assessment database for nursing home residents, provides comprehensive, holistic assessment data for nurses and make it possible to identify nursing needs of residents. The purpose of this study is to assess the health status of nursing home residents in Missouri, America, and to stimulate international comparative research assessing the health status of the elderly. This study presented the age-specific prevalence of diseases, sex differences, and the relative prevalence of chronic diseases among nursing home residents using the Minimum Data Set in Missouri. In addition, the possibility of racial and regional differences in chronic diseases and its relationship to demographic factors were analyzed. The prevalence of diseases was, in general, higher in female elderly then males and increased with age in both sexes. The average number of diseases in the elderly, among 31 chronic diseases, was 3.43 in women and 3.25 in men. The most prevalent 5 diseases were hypertension (29.1%), congestive heart failure (26.1%), dementia (23.6%), arthritis (20.6%), and diabetes mellitus (17.7%). Sixty-eight percent of nursing home residents had at least one of the heart/circulation related diseases and 58. 4% had neurology related diseases. In conclusion, the usefulness and implication of LTC MDS to nursing can't be overemphasized. Korean nurses should prepare themselves for using it for nursing research and to answer nursing questions.