Long Term Care Facts
Nursing Home Profile
There are 18,000 nursing homes across the United States.
On an average day, there are approximately 1.6 million Americans residing in a nursing home. They will, on average, stay at the nursing home for 892 days.
Annually there are some 2.5 million nursing home discharges with the primary reasons being hospitalization or death.
Long term care pharmaceutical annual expenditures in 2003 — $13,451,214,000 — a 16% increase from 2002 (IMS 2003).
In 2000, 4.5% of people aged 65 and older lived in nursing homes. However, the percentage increases sharply with age. In the same year, 18.2% of people 85 years of age and older resided in a nursing home (Living Arrangements, A Profile of Older Americans: 2002, Administration on Aging, 2002).
Nursing Home Residents
- The typical nursing home resident is a widowed, separated, or divorced woman in her mid 80's, who shows mild forms of memory loss and dementia. Although physically healthy for her age, she needs help with about 4 of 5 activities of daily living (eating, dressing, bathing, transferring and mobility, and toileting).
- Has 3-5 medical diagnoses.
- Takes 9 medications — 6.7 routine prescription medications per day and 2.7 additional medications on an "as needed" basis.
- The most commonly prescribed medications are gastrointestinal agents (including laxatives, enemas, and acid secretion reducers), analgesics (including acetaminophen and aspirin), cardiovascular medications (including Digoxin, diuretics, and nitrates), vitamins and supplements (including multivitamins and potassium), and psychoactive medications (including sedatives and hypnotics, antipsychotics, and antidepressants).
- Most recently in a hospital before entering a nursing home.
- The leading admission diagnoses for nursing home residents are heart disease, followed by mental disorders and injuries.
- Cognitive impairment and mental disorders are the most common conditions in nursing home residents.
- The average nursing home resident requires assistance with 3.75 Activities of Daily Living (ADLs).
Source: AARP, Policy and Research; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Centers for Disease Control (CDC); National Center for Health Statistics; American HealthCare Association (AHCA), National Health Policy Forum (NHPF); American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP)
Source: U.S. Bureau of Census; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Federal Interagency Forum on Aging Related Statistics, "Older Americans 2000: Key Indicators of Well-Being"
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