Health status and healthcare trends of individuals accessing Australian aged care programmes over a decade: the Registry of Senior Australians historical cohort
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(Published version)
Date
2020
Authors
Inacio, M.C.
Lang, C.E.
Bray, S.C.E.
Visvanathan, R.
Whitehead, C.
Griffith, E.C.
Evans, K.
Corlis, M.
Wesselingh, S.L.
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Journal article
Citation
Internal Medicine Journal, 2020; 51(5):712-724
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Maria C. Inacio, Catherine Lang, Sarah C. E. Bray, Renuka Visvanathan, Craig Whitehead, Elizabeth C. Griffith, Keith Evans, Megan Corlis and Steve Wesselingh
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Abstract
BACKGROUND:Understanding the health profile, service, and medicine use of Australians in the aged care sector will help inform appropriate service provision for our ageing population. AIMS:To examine the 2006-2015 trends in (1) co-morbidities and frailty of individuals accessing aged care and (2) health services, medicine use, and mortality after entry into long term care. METHODS:A cross-sectional and population-based trend analysis were conducted using the Registry of Senior Australians. RESULTS:From 2006-2015, 509,944 individuals accessed permanent residential care, 206,394 home care, 283,014 respite, and 124,943 transition care. Over this time, the proportion of individuals accessing permanent residential care with high frailty scores (≥0.3) increased (19.7% to 49.7%), as did the proportion with 5-9 co-morbidities (46.4% to 54.5%), with similar trends observed for those accessing other services. The median number of medicines dispensed in the year after entering permanent residential care increased from 9 (interquartile range (IQR) 6-12) to 10 (IQR 7-14), while remaining stable in home care (2006:9 IQR 5-12, 2015:9, IQR 6-13). Short-term (within 100 days) mortality in those accessing permanent care was higher in 2006 (15.6%, 95%CI 15.2-16.0%) than 2015 (14.6%, 95%CI 14.3-14.9%), while longer term (101-1095 days, 2006: 44.3%, 95%CI 43.7-45.0%, 2015: 46.4%, 95%CI 45.8-46.9%) mortality was higher. Mortality in individuals accessing home care did not change. CONCLUSION:The health of older Australians accessing aged care programs has declined while frailty increased, with an increasing use of medicine and worse long-term mortality in some. Funding and care models need to adapt to this changing profile.
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Data source: Supporting Information, https://doi.org/10.1111/imj.14871
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© 2020 The Authors. Internal Medicine Journal by Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd on behalf of Royal Australasian College of Physicians. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.