Profiles of nursing home residents with multiple sclerosis using the minimum data set

Abstract

This paper profiles nursing home residents with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the time of admission, including sociodemographic characteristics, health status measures, and treatments received. Admission assessments from the Minimum Data Set are used to create these profiles of residents with MS. There are 9013 admission assessments in the MDS for residents with MS between June 22, 1998 and January 17, 2000 analyzed for this study. Residents with MS are distinctly younger at admission than most nursing home residents, averaging 57.98 years of age. Recently admitted residents with MS are more physically dependent than other nursing home residents and tend to have limited range of motion and loss of voluntary movement. About one in three newly admitted residents with MS had some degree of impaired cognitive function. Over one third of residents with MS were depressed at admission, yet only 11.7% of recently admitted residents with MS were evaluated by a licensed mental health specialist. This prompts concern about the psychosocial well-being of MS residents in nursing homes.