Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Time to Cure of Incontinence Present at Nursing Home Admission.

Abstract

As many as half of older people that are admitted to nursing homes (NHs) are incontinent of urine and/or feces. Not much is known about the rate of cure of incontinence present at NH admission, but available reports suggest the rate is low. There have been racial and ethnic disparities in incontinence treatment, but the role of disparities in the cure of incontinence is understudied. Using the Peters-Belson method and multilevel predictors, our findings showed that there were disparities in the time to cure of incontinence for Hispanic NH admissions. A significantly smaller proportion of older Hispanic admissions were observed to have their incontinence cured and cured later than expected had they been White. Reducing disparities in incontinence cure will improve health outcomes of Hispanic NH admissions. Significant predictors in our model suggest strategies to reduce the disparity including attention to managing fecal incontinence and incontinence in those with cognitive impairment, improving residents' functional status, and increasing resources to NHs admitting older Hispanics with incontinence to develop innovative and cost effective ways to provide equitable quality care.