Hiroshima University Hospital Reports Findings in Information Technology (How the 2018 Japan Floods Impacted Nursing Home Admissions for Older Persons: A Longitudinal Study Using the Long-Term Care Insurance Comprehensive Database): Information Technology

2023 JAN 12 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on Information Technology is the subject of a report. According to news reporting originating from Hiroshima, Japan, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “As disasters become more frequent because of global warming, countries across the world are seeking ways to protect vulnerable older populations. Although these conditions may increase nursing home admission (NHA) rates for older persons, we know of no studies that have directly tested this hypothesis.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Hiroshima University Hospital, “This was a retrospective cohort study. We analyzed data from long-term care insurance (LTCI) users in 3 Japanese prefectures that incurred heavy damage from the 2018 Japan Floods, which is the largest recorded flooding disaster in national history. Specifically, we extracted NHA data from the LTCI comprehensive database, both for disaster-affected and unaffected individuals. We employed the Cox proportional hazards model to calculate multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for NHAs within a 6-month period following the 2018 Japan Floods, with adjustments for potential confounding factors. Of the 187,861 individuals who used LTCI services during the investigated period, we identified 2156 (1.1%) as disaster affected. The HR for NHA was significantly higher for disaster-affected (vs unaffected) individuals (adjusted HR 3.23: 95% CI 2.88-3.64), and also higher than the HRs for older age (90-94 years vs 65-69 years: 2.29, CI 1.93-2.70), cognitive impairment (severe impairment vs normal: 1.40, CI 1.25-1.57), and physical function (bedridden vs independent: 2.27, CI 1.83-2.70). According to our subgroup analyses, the adjusted HR for disaster-affected individuals unable to feed themselves was 6.00 (CI 3.68-9.79), with a significant interaction between the 2 variables (P = .01). Natural disasters increase the risk of NHA for older persons, especially those who are unable to feed themselves.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Health care providers and policymakers should understand and prepare for this emerging risk factor.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: How the 2018 Japan Floods Impacted Nursing Home Admissions for Older Persons: A Longitudinal Study Using the Long-Term Care Insurance Comprehensive Database. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 2022. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association can be contacted at: Elsevier Science Inc, Ste 800, 230 Park Ave, New York, NY 10169, USA. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Journal of the American Medical Directors Association - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-the-american-medical-directors-association/)

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Daisuke Miyamori, Dept. of General Internal Medicine, Hiroshima University Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan. Additional authors for this research include Shuhei Yoshida, Saori Kashima, Soichi Koike, Shinya Ishii, Yuji Okazaki, Kotaro Ikeda and Masatoshi Matsumoto.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2022.11.021. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Publisher contact information for the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association is: Elsevier Science Inc, Ste 800, 230 Park Ave, New York, NY 10169, USA.

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