Objective
To determine what variables separate community-dwelling elders from assisted living–dwelling
elders.
Design
Cross-sectional.
Setting
Community and assisted living facilities in Connecticut.
Participants
114 individuals (77 community dwelling, 37 assisted living).
Assessments
Nutritional survey, 6-minute walk, Mini-Mental Status Exam (MMSE), Center of Epidemiologic
Studies (CES)-Depression Scale, 25-OH vitamin D.
Results
At baseline, assisted living–dwelling elders appeared to have lower serum 25-OH vitamin
D levels, lower MMSE scores, higher CES-depression scale scores, and walked shorter
distances in the 6-minute walk. Serum 25-OH vitamin D levels and 6-minute walk were
significantly different between the 2 groups using logistic regression analysis. As
serum 25-OH vitamin D levels increased, the probability of an elder living in an assisted
living facility decreased, and as distance walked during the 6-minute walk increased,
the probability of an elder living in an assisted living facility decreased.
Conclusions
Elders living in assisted living facilities had significantly lower 25-OH vitamin
D levels and walked shorter distances during the 6-minute walk. These variables can
be used to predict the probability of an elder living in an assisted living facility.
The lack of effect of nutrition suggests that the role of vitamin D in this setting
is in physical function.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 06, 2010
Footnotes
This work was supported by a grant from the Society for Clinical Densitometry and the General Clinical Research Center (MO1-RR06192).
Identification
Copyright
© 2010 American Medical Directors Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
