3. Results
Table 1 compares the characteristics of the nursing
homes responding to the facility and resident surveys with
the national dataset. The composition was essentially the
same in both of our surveys including their geographical
distribution. However, the percentages of facilities meeting
standards for EOL care was somewhat higher, 64.7% in
the facility survey and 67.6% in the resident survey, compared
with 60.3% in the national dataset. There were more
facilities established after 2000, 34.0% in the facility survey
and 34.9% in the resident survey, than in the national
dataset (30.2%).Table 2 shows the nursing homes’ variables
that are statistically related to dying within the facility. Of
the 3634 discharged with death as reason, 1630 (44.9%)
had died in the nursing home. When standardized by the
number of deaths per 100 beds, the average was 7.49 per
year. The former and the latter were both somewhat higher
than the numbers we extrapolated from the monthly sample
data in the government survey: 41.3% and 6.62 [22]. The
possibility of dying in the nursing home was significantly
related to factors reflecting the facility’s stance on EOL care:
registered as a designated EOL care facility, basic policy to
provide EOL care within the facility, and having the resident
and/or family’s preference documented. However,the healthcare related variables, having physicians based
in designated home care supporting clinics was the only
significantly related variable. Higher nurse staffing levels
were not related to a higher likelihood of dying in the nursing
home. The reason why having a full time physician was
not significant was probably because such arrangements
were found in only 4.0% of the nursing homes.