FACTORS INFLUENCING USERS RETURN HOME ON DISCHARGE FROM A GERIATRIC INTERMEDIATE CARE FACILITY IN JAPAN

OBJECTIVES: To determine the factors that influence users' destinations on discharge from Geriatric Intermediate Care Facilities (GICFs), which were established in Japan in 1987 to help hospitalized older people return home. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. SETTING: A 94-bed GICF attached to Saku Central Hospital in Japan. SUBJECTS: Charts of all users (N = 437) aged 65 years and older, discharged from the GICF between July 1987 and February 1991, were reviewed. MEASUREMENTS: The independent variables, obtained from users' admission records, were age, sex, place of residence before admission, length of stay, intellectual impairment (assessed by Karasawa's diagnostic criteria for senile dementia), ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs), and living arrangement of users in the GICF. The dependent variable was destination after discharge from the GICF. MAIN RESULTS: Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that, compared with users who were able to success fully return home, users with little ability to perform ADLs, male users, and those admitted from other institutions were more likely to be hospitalized. Such analyses also revealed that users who came from institutions, had low ability to perform ADLs, and lived alone were more likely to be institutionalized in nursing homes. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluating a user's physical, mental, and socioeconomic conditions at an early stage of admission to a GICF may allow us to predict whether the user can be successfully discharged to his or her home or will have to remain at the GICF for an extended period.