Objectives: To investigate gender differences in health status of newly admitted black nursing home residents on the day following admission.
Design: Descriptive and comparative cross-sectional study of black residents drawn from a larger prospective longitudinal study on health and functional status of new nursing home residents interviewed on the first full day after admission.
Setting: Eight southern nursing homes: three not-for-profit, three for-profit, one county government-operated, and one federal government-operated. Homes ranged in size from 110 to 575 beds and were licensed for skilled and intermediate care.
Participants: Black nursing home residents (N = 224) aged 60 years and older as admitted sequentially to nursing homes.
Measurements: Health status was assessed by the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire, as a measure of mental status, and the Scaled Outcome Criteria, as a measure of ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs). Morbidity was assessed by the number of medical diagnoses, number of prescribed medications, and the medical diagnoses of hip fracture, dementia, and cancer. Resident classification data assessed the source of entry to the nursing home, payer source, and level of care required. Demographic data assessed included age, education, marital status, and number of living children.
Results: Both black men (n = 126) and women (n = 98) newly admitted to the nursing home had health and social deficits. Moreover, women, although not significantly different from men in average age, were more impaired in six of eight ADLs, including grooming, dressing, feeding, ambulating, transferring, and defecating. Women were also less likely to be married. No gender differences were found for five other health status variables, four other demographic variables, five resident classification variables, or five measures of morbidity.
Conclusion: These data on southern black nursing home residents provide evidence that among older black nursing home residents, women have greater care needs than men. Findings illustrate the need to consider gender in planning nursing home care of black older residents, black women may be at greater risk for health status alterations and require more frequent health status monitoring and intervention.