Nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s disease in special care units compared to other residents with Alzheimer’s disease

The purpose of the study was to compare nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in special care units (SCUs) to other AD residents. We analyzed 49,627 admission assessments recorded in the Minimum Data Set during 2000 for residents with AD, with 11,311 in SCUs. We compared these two groups of AD residents for demographic characteristics, health status, and treatments. SCU residents were significantly more likely to be male, younger, white, married, and self pay than other AD residents. SCU residents were significantly more likely to have poorer cognitive function and communication skills while other AD residents were significantly more likely to be totally activities of daily living (ADL) dependent, more physically disabled, and have cardiac-related conditions. SCU residents were significantly more likely to receive daily anti-psychotic, anti-anxiety, or anti-depressant medications than other AD residents. Other AD residents were more likely to receive a range of treatments and procedures, while SCU residents were more likely to receive intervention programs for mood, behavior, or cognitive loss. The implications of this are that SCU residents and other AD residents represent distinct nursing home populations. SCU residents are more likely to have cognitive decline and behavior problems while other AD residents are more likely to have greater physical disability and life-threatening co-morbidities.