Close up image of a caretaker helping older woman walk

An examination of the Leipzig Longitudinal Study of the Aged examines predictors of nursing home admissions among seniors without a dementia diagnosis. It is one of the first analyses that don’t consider dementia.

For the Leipzig study, which is a population-based examination of seniors aged 75 and older, 1,024 elderly adults without dementia were interviewed six times on average every 1.4 years, according to the report. During the study, 7.8% of seniors without dementia were admitted to a nursing home. The mean time from the beginning of the study until a senior without dementia was admitted to a nursing home was 7.6 years.

Factors that led to faster admission to a nursing home include living alone, functional impairment, major depression and stroke. Seniors who had home care aides, as well as seniors who did not regularly see specialist physicians were also more likely to be admitted to a nursing home sooner than the mean time. The study appears in BMC Health Services Research 2010.