Abstract
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, some nursing homes (NHs) in Maryland suffered larger outbreaks than others. This study examined how facility characteristics influenced outbreak size. We conducted a retrospective analysis of secondary data from Maryland NHs to identify characteristics associated with large outbreaks, defined as when total resident cases exceeded 10% of licensed beds, from January 1, 2020, through July 1, 2020. Our dataset was unique in its inclusion of short-stay residents as a measure of resident type and family satisfaction as a measure of quality. Facility characteristics were collected prior to 2020. Like other studies, we found that large outbreaks were more likely to occur in counties with high cumulative incidence of COVID-19, and in NHs with more licensed beds or fewer daily certified nursing assistant (CNA) hours. We also found that NHs with a greater proportion of short-stay residents were more likely to have large outbreaks, even after adjustment for other facility characteristics. Lower family satisfaction was not significantly associated with large outbreaks after adjusting for CNA hours. Understanding the characteristics of NHs with large COVID-19 outbreaks can guide facility re-structuring to prevent the spread of respiratory infections in future pandemics.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine |
Volume | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 29 Nov 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Epicenter Grant 1U01CK000556-02–02).
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
Keywords
- COVID-19
- epidemiology
- nursing homes
- short-stay admissions