Alzheimer special care units compared with traditional nursing home for dementia care: Are there differences at admission and in clinical outcomes?

Background: Studies comparing Alzheimer Special Care Units (ASCUs) with traditional nursing homes (NHs) have reported conflicting results. Objectives: To compare the characteristics and the effects on mortality, hospitalization, use of physical restraints, falls, and antipsychotics among patients admitted to ASCUs or to NHs. Methods: A sequential cohort of patients with dementia was recruited and followed for 18 months in a sample of randomly selected ASCUs and NHs. Data on socio-demographic, cognitive, functional, behavioral, and clinical characteristics, and drug exposure were collected at baseline and at 6-month intervals up to 18 months. Results: A total of 349 patients were enrolled in 35 ASCUs and 81 in 9 NHs. Patients admitted to ASCUs were younger, cognitively and functionally less impaired, but had more behavioral disturbances than those in NH. During follow-up, ASCU patients had a lower risk of hospitalization (odds ratio: 0.67; 95% confidence interval: 0.46-0.99; P = 0.04), and use of physical restraints (odds ratio: 0.66; 95% confidence interval: 0.51-0.86; P = 0.003), and showed a higher rate of withdrawal of antipsychotics (P = 0.003). No difference was found in mortality and falls. Propensity score analysis gives similar results. Conclusions: This study found that patients with dementia in ASCUs had different baseline clinical and functional characteristics from those in NHs. They had a lower rate of hospitalization and use of physical restraints at 6-month follow-up, and a higher probability of having antipsychotic agents withdrawn.