The relationship of nursing home price and quality of life
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
The relationship of nursing home price and quality of life Sarah Raes* , Sophie Vandepitte, Delphine De Smedt, Herlinde Wynendaele, Yannai DeJonghe and Jeroen Trybou
Abstract Background: Knowledge about the relationship between the residents’ Quality of Life (QOL) and the nursing home price is currently lacking. Therefore, this study investigates the relationship between 11 dimensions of QOL and nursing homes price in Flemish nursing homes. Methods: The data used in this cross-sectional study were collected by the Flemish government from years 2014 to 2017 and originates from 659 Flemish nursing homes. From 2014 to 2016, data on the QOL of 21,756 residents was assessed with the InterRAI instrument. This instrument contains 11 QOL dimensions. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the research question. Results: The multiple linear regressions indicated that a 10 euro increase in the daily nursing home price is associated with a significant decrease (P < 0.001) of 0.1 in 5 dimensions of QOL (access to services, comfort and environment, food and meals, respect, and safety and security). Hence, our results indicate that the association between price and QOL is very small. When conducting a subgroup analysis based on ownership type, the earlier found results remained only statistically significant for private nursing homes. Conclusion: Our findings show that nursing home price is of limited importance with respect to resident QOL. Contrary to popular belief, our study demonstrates a limited negative effect of price on QOL. Further research that includes other indicators of QOL is needed to allow policymakers and nursing home managers to improve nursing home residents’ QOL. Keywords: Quality of life, Price, Nursing homes, InterRAI, Ownership type
Background Clinicians, researchers and policy makers increasingly acknowledge quality of life (QOL) as an important health outcome, especially for elderly patients and nursing home residents [1, 2]. Knowledge about QOL is important, as better QOL is associated with less comorbidity [3] and less depressive symptoms [4]. In literature, QOL has many definitions. Psychology defines QOL as “a conscious cognitive judgement of satisfaction with one’s life” [5]. Meanwhile, the WHO * Correspondence: [email protected] Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
defines QOL as “the ‘individuals’ perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns” [6]. Researchers apply these definitions when constructing a QOL measure. Increasingly, researchers measure QOL with a multidimensional construct focusing on the social, psychological, environmental and functional aspects of the daily lives of individuals, rather than on a one-dimensional construct [7]. Entering a nursing home is a major change for nursing home residents. Still, health care professionals pay little attention to reside
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