FROM VITAL & HEALTH STATISTICS OF THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE � Public Health Service I Number 29 � May 17’,1978 

A Comparison of Nursing Home Residents and Discharges 

from the 1977 National Nursing Home Survey: United Statesq 

This report, comparing nursing home residents and discharges,-. presents provisional

. estimates from the 1977 National Nursing Home 

Survey (NNHS) conducted by the National 

Center for the Health Statistics. It is a nationwide sample survey of nursing homes describing 

the facilities. and their costs and the characteristics of the residents, the discharges, and the 

staff. 

The survey is the second in an ongoing 

NNHS system. The first survey was conducted 

between August 1973 and April 1974. The data 

for the 1977 NNHS were collected from May 

through December 1977 with a midpoint of 

August 1977. The estimates are provisional, 

since they are based on a subsample of about 

340 of the 1,700 facilities in the national survey. 

Nursing homes included in the survey were 

nursing care homes, personal care homes (with 

and without nursing), and domiciliary care 

homes as classified by the 1973 Master FaciIity 

Inventory.2 In addition, all nursing homes that 

opened for business between 1973 and December 1976 were included. Another Advance Data 

presenting provisional estimates of facility and 

staff characteristics will be published shortly. 

� 

Data presented in this report include a 

demographic description of the resident and discharged populations and a discussion of selected 

1This report was prepared by Esther Hing and Aurora 

Zappolo, Division of Health Resources Utilization Statistics. 

2Nation~ Center for Health Statistics: Inpatient 

health facilities as reported from the 1973 MFI Survey, 

by A. Sirrocco. Vital and Health Statistics. Series 14-No. 

16. DHEW Pub. No. (HRA) 76-1811. Health Resources 

Administration. Washington. U.S. Government Printing 

Office, May 1976. ­

heaIth status measures. The data also include a 

discussion of selected measures related to the 

utilization of nursing homes such as prior living 

arrangements, length of stay, living arrangements 

after discharge, source of payment, and charges 

for care. The resident data are based on a sample 

of all residents on the nursing home’s roster the 

night before the data collection began. Consequently, they may be considered a “snapshot” 

of nursing home residents on any given day 

between May and December 1977. Similar data 

y%,erecollected ~ the 1973-74 NNHS. 

The discharge data, in contrast, are based on 

a sample of all discharges from the facility during the caIendar year 1976. Discharge data not 

collected in the earlier survey were added to the 

NNHS design to provide information on duration of stay in nursing homes and on the characteristics of persons who spend a relatively short 

time in the facility. 

The discharge data therefore differ from the 

resident data in several major areas. First, the 

universe is all discharges from the facility during 

the entire year 1976, while the universe for the 

residents is all persons on the roster for a single 

night during the data collection period (May 

through December 1977). Second, the discharge 

data represent 1976 characteristics, in contrast 

to the resident data which represent 1977 characteristics. Moreover, the discharge data were, of 

necessity, limited to information recorded in the 

medical record, whereas the resident data include personal knowledge of a caregiver when 

the information was not available in the record. 

Finally, there is a theoretical difference in the 

universe, since the discharge sample could have 

included the same person more than once if he 

or she was discharged more than once from a 

@ 
2 aduancedata 

nursing home during 1976, while the resident 

sample precludes any chance of persons falling 

into the sample more than once. 

For this report’s purposes, residents refers to 

persons residing in the nursing home at the time 

of the survey (May to December 1977), and discharges refers to persons formally discharged 

from the nursing home during 1976. Both terms 

characterize the same pool of patients receiving 

care in nursing homes measured at different 

points in time. 

Information on sampling variability is presented in the Technical Notes. 

DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS 

On any given day during the period May 

through December 1977, there were about 

1,287,400 nursing home residents in 18,300 

nursing homes. This provisional estimate is a 

20-percent increase over the 1,075,800 residents 

estimated by the 1973-74 NNHS. This increase 

is slightly exaggerated, since the 1977 NNHS included nursing and personal care facilities, 

whereas the 1973-74 NNHS included only facilities providing some level of nursing care. The 

number of residents in facilities that provide no 

nursing care, however, is small. According to the 

1973 Master Facility Inventory, about 1 percent 

of all nursing home residents were in such facilities. 3 An increase in the number of persons in 

nursing homes is expected, since the elderly 

population in the United States is increasing. 

For example, between 1970 and 1980 the number of persons 65 years and over in the population is projected to increase by 22 percent.A 

Nevertheless, the 1,097,900 residents 65 years 

of age and over represent the same proportion of 

the United States population aged 65 and over 

as was found in the 1973-74 NNHS—about 5 

percent. 

3National Center for Health Statistics: The Nation’s 

Use of Health Resources, 1976 Edition. DHEW Pub. No. 

(HRA) 77-1240. Health Resources Administration. 

Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1977. p. 

73, 

4U.S. Bureau fo the Census: Demographic Aspects of 

Aging and the Older Population in the United States. 

Current Population Reports. Special Studies. Series P-23, 

No. 59. Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office, 

May 1976. 

The survey found that the estimated number 

of persons discharged from nursing homes during 1976 was about 973,100. Because the 

methodology to count discharges differed from 

that used in earlier surveys, comparisons of 

figures are not valid, and therefore trend statements are not presented. 

Table 1 shows that in 1977 nursing home 

residents were elderly (median age 80), primarily 

female (71 percent), widowed (58 percent), and 

white (92 percent). Table 2 shows that discharges in 1976 were also elderly (median age 

80) and primarily female (64 percent). The distribution on the basis of marital status, on the 

other hand, shows a greater proportion of discharges who were mam-ied (20 percent compared 

to 13 percent of the residents) and fewer who 

Table 1. Provisional number and percent distribution of nursing 

home residents by age, sex, racar marital status, and median 

length of stay: United States, 1977 

Selected resident characteristics 

All residents ............................. 

Age

— 

Under 65 years ................................. 

65-74 years .............. .................. ...... 

75-84 years ...... ................................ 

85 years and over ............................. 

Sex

— 

Male ................................................. 

Female .... ......................................... 

Race 

Whital ............................................. 

All other races or ethnicities ............ 

Current marital status 

Married .... ........................................ 

Widowed ................ ...... .................... 

Divorced or separated ...................... 

Never married ........... ...................... 

Unknown .............. ......................... 

Median length of stay 

Number of days .............................. 

l~xcludes Spanish-American. 

Nursing home residents 

Percent 

Number ~istribution 

1,287,400 100.0 

189,500 14.7 

202,000 15.7 

470,600 36.6 

425,300 33.0 

369,400 28,7 

918,000 71.3 

1,180,300 91.7 

107,100 8.3 

160,800 12.5 

743,700 57.8 

87,600 6.8 

265,900 20.7 * * 

582 . . . 
dmlce&m3 

Table 2. Provisional number of discharges from nursing homes 

and percent discharged alive by age, sex, and marital status: 

United States, 1976 

Discharges from 

nursinrj homes 

Selected characteristics 

of discharges Percent 

Number Discharged 

alive 

All residents ............................... 973,100 74.2 

— 

Age

Under 65 years ................................. 135,400 89.9 

65-74 years ...................................... 161,200 73.4 

75-84 years ...................................... 381,800 75.9 

85 years and over ............................. 294,700 65.3 

— 

Sex

Male .. .. .. ... ... . ... .. . ... . .. ... . ... .. .. .. .. .. . .. ... . 349,700 74.8 

Female .. ... ... ... .. . .... . .. ... . . .... .. .... ... .. ... . 623,400 73.9 

Marital status at discharge 

Married .. . .... . .. .... .. . ... .. . .... . . ..... . .. .. .. . .. 192,100 80.1 

Widowed .. .. ... ... .. ... . .. .. .. .... . . .... . . ... . ... . 552,300 71.8 

Divorced or separated .... .. . .... .. .... .. .. . 84,700 86.2 

Never married . .. .. ... ... .... .. .. .. . .. ... .. .. .. . 106,300 69.4 * Unknown .. .. . .. .. .. ..... . . .... . .. .... .. ... .. . ... 37,700 

were never married (11 percent compared to 21 

percent of the residents). However, ke proportions of discharges who had other maritzd 

statuses were not statistically different from 

those for residents. 

Ultimately, the outcome of nursing home 

care may be characterized by, whether the discharge is aIive or dead. Overall, about 3 out of 4 

(74 percent) of the discharges were alive (table 

2). Age was related to whether a discharge was 

alive or dead. Younger discharges were more 

likely to be discharged alive; 90 percent of those 

under 65 years of age were discharged alive compared to 75 percent of those 65-84 years of age 

and 65 percent of those 85 years and older. Sex, 

on the other hand, had no bearing on outcome. 

The proportion of females discharged alive (74 

percent) was simikir to that of males (75 

percent). 

HEALTH STATUS 

For this report, the health status measures 

selected were primary diagnosis and the ability 

to perform activities for daily living. The resident’s primary diagnosis was that provided by 

the physician at the time of the last, i.e., most 

recent, examination. In order to examine the 

relationship between eventual outcome and 

health status at admission the prima-y diagnosis 

for discharged persons was the diagnosis made at 

the time of admission. Any comparisons 

between the diagnoses of residents and of discharges should take into account the difference 

in the time of measurement (most recent examination versus admission) as well as the 

potential differences in the quality of the 

diagnoses at each of these points. 

Table 3 shows the most recent primary 

diagnosis for residents, with about 37 percent 

having diseases of the circulatory system, 22 perTable 3. Provisional number of nursing home residents and rate 

per 1,000 residents by primary diagnoses at last examination: 

United States, 1977 

Primary diagnosis at 

last examination 

All residents ............................. 

Diseases of the circulatory 

system ...... ....................... ........... 

Congestive heart failure .................... 

Arteriosclerosis ................................ 

Hypertension ................... ................ 

Stroke .... .............. ............................ 

Other diseases of the circulatory 

system ............................................ 

Mental disorders and senility 

without psychosis .......... ............ 

Psychosis, including senile ................ 

Chronic brain syndrome ....... ............ 

Senility without psychosis ............... 

Mental retardation .......................... . 

Neurosis, alcoholism, drug 

addiction, and other 

mental disorders .............. ............... 

Other diagnoses ............................ 

Diabetes ........................................... 

Fractures ....................... ................... 

Diseases of the nervous system ......... 

Arthritis or rheumatism ..... ........ ...... 

Cancer .............. .......................... ...... 

Other or unknown ........ ................... 

Nursing home residents 

Rate per 

Number 1,000 

residents 

1,287,400 1,000.0 

477,400 370.8 

57,100 44.4 

235,600 183.0 

45,300 35.2 

102,300 79.5 

37,000 28.8 

287,600 223.4 

85,000 66.1 

91,600 71.2 * * 

59,500 46.2 

* � 

486,200 377.7 

77,200 60.0 

40,900 31.8 

60,700 47.1 

57,100 44.3 * + 

226,100 176.6 
4 acimncedata 

Table 4. Provisional number of discharges from nursing homes 

and ~ercent discharcred alive by selected primary diagnoses at 

admission: United S;ates, 1976” 

Discharges from 

nursing homes 

Selected primary diagnosis 

at admission Parcent 

Number W.charged 

alive 

All discharges ........................... 973,100 74.2 

Diseases of the circulatory 

system ................... ..................... 428,300 72.4 

* Congestive heart failure . ... .... .. .. .. .. .. .. 53,500 

Arteriosclerosis .. .... ... .. ... .. . .... . ... ... ... . 191,400 73.0 

Stroke ... .... . . .... .. ... ... ... .... .. . .... .. ... ... .. . 115,600 71.1 

Mental disorders and senility 

without psychosis .. .. ... .. .. .... . .. .... 118,300 73.5 

Chronic brain syndrome .. ... ... ..... . ... .. 51,600 56.9 

Other diagnoses ... .. .. .. . . .... . . .. .. .. .. . . 426,500 76.3 

Diabetes .... . . ..... .. .. .... .. . ... .. .. .... . .. ... ... . 49,800 80.5 

Fractures .... .. . .... .. .. .... .. .. ... . .. ... ... . ..... . 71,500 84.6 

Cancer .. ... .... .. .. ....4... ... .. .. ... .. . .... . ... .... 75,800 60.7 

cent havhw a mental disorder or senility without 

psychosis, and 38 percent having some other 

problem. Within each of these groups, only the 

larger categories of diagnoses are shown. For 

example, the most frequent (18 percent of the 

residents) primary diagnosis was arteriosclerosis, 

which is the “Diseases of the circulatory system” group. 

Table 4 shows the primary admitting diagnosis by outcome for the sample of discharges. 

Preliminary analysis suggests that discharges admitted with diagnoses requiring short-term or 

recuperative care were more likely to be discharged alive than those admitted with diagnoses 

which can usually only be controlled or monitored. For example, discharges admitted with 

fractures were more likely to be discharged alive 

(85 percent) than those admitted for chronic 

brain syndrome (57 percent) or cancer (61 

percent ). 

Figure 1 shows the ability of residents to 

perform selected activities for daily living. A 

large majority (86 percent) required assistance in 

bathing, usually on the part of another person 

rather than by the use of special equipment. 

Figure 1. PERCENT DISTRIBUTION OF NURSING HOME RESIDENTS 

BY LEVEL OF DEPENDENCY IN PERFORMING SELECTED ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING: UNITED STATES, 1977 

LEVEL OF DEPENDENCY 

@!!!!S 

Independent].................................. 

Requiresassistance.......................... a5.7 

Dressing 

lndependentl..........~ .............. 

Requiresassistance(includesdoes 

not dresd .................................... a7.9 

Doesnot usetoilet room...,.........- ~ 5,4 

Difficulty with bladdercontrol........ i; 3.2 

Difficulty’with control of both :~:y.~jj. 27,, 

bowel and bladder....................... ..%%%-. -.-.... 

Ostomypatient...............................bS,6 

I t I 1 I 1 I ! I I I o 20 40 ao ao 100 

PERCENT 

lIncl.dcssndl Percmtage ofresidentsforwhommtcgmywasunknown, 

Fewer, but still a majority (68 percent), required 

some assistance in dressing or did not dress. Less 

than half, on the other hand, required assistance 

with either using the toilet (42 percent) or eat- . 

ing (32 percent). 

Information on activities for daily living for 

discharges is limited to those activities , mobility 

and continence, which are described in the medical record. Figure 2 shows the proportion of discharges who had problems with mobility or 

continence. A far greater proportion of discharges than residents (figure 1) were bedfast: 

Twenty percent of the discharges were bedfast, 

compared to only 5 percent of the residents. 

The proportions of residents and discharges having any difficult y with continence, however, 

were the same (45 percent). These and other 

o 
� 

acklncedata 5 

Figure 2. PERCENT DISTRIBUT1ON OF Discharges FROM NURSING 

HOMES BY LEVEL OF DEPENDENCY IN PERFORMING SELECTEC 

ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING: UNITED STATES, 1976 

LEVEL OF DEPENDENCY 

Mobility 

Walks,withorwithout m$istanc@ . ...‘“’~’:~~:~~~ ::’::::: . . . . . . . . . . . .. 43.5 

Ch8ifiam..........................................

IiiiiP

Continence 

No difficulty controllingbowel 

or bladder.................................... 

Difficul@/with bowel or bl~ddm 

control........................................ 

Difficulty with control of both 

bowel and bladder....................... 

05t0my patient............................... 

Unknown........................................ 

I ! I I I I I t I 1 I 

o 20 40 60 80 100 

comparisons in health status from the full . 

national sample will be explored in future 

reports in Series 13 of Vital and Health 

Statistics. 

UTILIZATION OF NURSING HOMES 

This section presents a brief profile of the 

process of nursing home utilization in terms of 

the primary reason for admission and living arrangements prior to admission; length of stay 

and charges for care; and the place to which a 

live discharge was transferred. 

Poor physical health was cited for 76 percent of nursing home residents as the primary 

reason for being in the facility. In contrast, lack 

of social or economic resources, disruptive 

behavior, or other reasons were cited as reasons 

for 12 percent of the residents, mental illness 

was cited for 7 percent, and mental retardation 

for only 5 percent of the residents. 

The poor physical health of the majority of 

residents was reflected in their living arrangements prior to admission. About half (54 percent) of the residents were admitted from a 

health facility. This group was composed mainly 

of those admitted from a general or short-stay 

hospital (32 percent) and those transferred from 

another nursing home (13 percent). Forty-one 

percent, however, had moved from a private or � 

Table 5. Provisional number and parcent distribution of nursing 

home residents by living arrangements prior to admission and 

primary raason for care: United States, 1977 

Living arrangement prior 

to admission and primary 

reason for care 

Living arrangement 

prior to admission 

All residents .............. .............. . 

Private or semiprivate residence ....... 

With others .................................... 

Alone ............................................ 

Unknown if with others ................ 

Another health facilityl ................... 

Another nursing home ................. 

General or short-stay hospital ...... 

Mental hospital ................ ............ 

Other health facility or 

unknown type ............................ 

Unknown or other arrangement ....... 

Primary reason for care 

All residents ............................. 

Poor physical health ......................... 

Mental illness ......................... .......... 

Mental retardation ........................... 

Social, economic, behavioral, 

or other reason ............... ................ 

Nursing home residents 

Percent 

Numbar distribution 

1,287,400 100.0 

529,100 41.1 

325,000 25.2 

154,100 12.0 

49,900 3.9 

694,800 54.0 

164,600 12.8 

405,700 31.5 

80,000 6.2 

44,500 3.5 

63,500 4.9 

1,287,400 100.0 

983,100 76.4 

91,000 7.1 

64,400 5.0 

148,800 11.6 

1347.300 of these residents. admitted from another health 

facility, had gone to that faciIi&, from a private or semiprivate 

residence. 

semiprivate residence, where they had usually 

lived with others. (table 5). 

Table 1 shows that the median length of stay 

for residents–the time interwd between the last 

admission date and the survey date—was 582 

days, or 1.6 years. Figure 3 shows that nearly a 

third of the residents (32 percent) had been in 

the facility for 1 to 3 years with another third 

(31 percent) being in the facility for 3 years or 

more. The survey methodology for residents has 

the capacity only to measure the time the resident has been in the facility, not the length of 

time that would ultimately be spent in the facility. Such information on the entire duration of 

stay in the factlty is one of the unique features 

of the discharge data. Since the median length of 

stay for residents was 1.6 years, the entire dura-
� 

6 achmecklta 

ing, and those admitted for relatively short pe-e 

Figure 3. PERCENT DISTRIBUTION OF NURSING HOME RESIDENTS 

IN 1977 AND DISCHARGES DURING 1976 BY LENGTH OF STAY: riods of time because recuperative care “ is 

UNITED STATES needed. The resident and discharge samples in80 ml”’’--’ cIuded both types of users. The resident sample, r however, was more likeIy to include the long- 70
 Bi?ilaiRe$’d,nt$1977 term users, since the resident sample included t


Lessthan 3 to less 6 to less 1 to less 3 years than than than 3 momhs 6 months 12 months 3 years ‘r ‘ore 

LENGTH OF3TAY1 

1Porresidentsfn ! 977 tinu interval botwmfl admiss!.. date for eachmddmt and survey date. 

tion of stay for discharges might be expected to 

be considerably longer: However, this- was not 

the case. Rather than a longer stay, the discharge 

sample had significantly shorter median duration–84 days or 12 weeks. Fifty-two percent of 

the discharges had been in the facility for less 

than 3 months in contrast to only 13 percent of 

the residents (figure 3). 

The disparity between the residents’ and the 

discharges’ length of time in the facility suggests 

that there are two separate groups of persons 

who use nursing homes: those admitted for 

relatively long periods of time because there is 

little chance of their chronic problems improvTable 6. Provisional number and percent distribution of discharges 

monthly charge by primary source 

Number of 

discharges Primary source of payment from nursing 

homes 

only residents in the nursing home on the night 

before the survey. The discharge sample, in contrast, included a larger proportion of the shortterrn users, since it included all discharges chwing 

calendar year 1976. 

An important example of the short-term 

user of nursing home care is the Medicare recipient. Medicare provides skiIled nursing care for a 

maximum of 100 days following hospitalization, 

but the length of stay for recipients was far 

under the limit. In 1976, the median time spent 

in the facility by discharges using Medicare for 

their primary payment source was 24 days (table 

6); 12 percent of the discharges relied primzu-ilyon Medicare for payment of care. 

Discharges receiving skilled nursing care 

under Medicaid (17 percent) and those receiving 

intermediate care under Medicaid (19 percent ) 

tended to have longer stays than those using 

other sources of payment. The median stays� 

for discharges who had received skilled or 

intermediate care paid for by Medicaid were 176 

and 220 days, respectively, compared to median 

stays of 24-85 days for the remaining payment 

sources (table 6). Nevertheless, the median stay 

for both Medicaid discharge groups for 1976 

were still significantly shorter than the median 

stay for residents in 1977 (582 days). 

The effect of the difference in the health 

status between the discharged and the resident 

from nursing homes, median duration of stay, and average total 

of payment: United States, 1976 

Median Percent Average duration distribution of stay total monthly 

of discharges in days charge 

All primary sources of payment .... ................ 973,100 100.0 84 $816 

Own income or family support ... . .. .... .. . ... .. .. .... . ... .. 402,100 41.3 59 848 

Medicare .... . .. .. .. .. ... .. ... .... .. ... .. . .. .... .. . ... ... . ... .. .. .... . ... 119,800 12.3 24 1,292 

Medicaid: 

Skilled cam .... . .. ... .. .. ... . .. ... ... . ... .. .. ... . .. ... ... . .... . .. ... 166,000 17.1 176 845 

lntarmediate care .. .. .. .. .. . . .... .. ... .. .. . ... .. .. .... . .. .... .. .. 185,700 19.1 220 598 

All other sources . .. .... . ... .. .. .... .. .. .. .. .. .. ... . ..... ... ... . .. 99,500 10.2 85 461 
a&medaa7 

9 A.

Populations can also be seen in the commu-ison . 

of the average monthly charge. Overall, tlheaverage charge for residents in 1977 ($669) and for 

discharges in 1976 ($816) were each significantly higher than monthly charges for residents 

reported in previous surveys of nursing homes; 

the average charge for residents was $186 in 

1964, $328 in 1969, and $479 in 1973-74. The 

average charge for discharges in 1976 ($816), 

however, was significantly higher than the average charge for residents in 1977 ($669). This 

difference in charges is related to the differences in care received by the resident and discharge populations. The poor health of many in 

the discharged population is reflected in the findings that 25 percent of all discharges died in the 

nursing home and 45 percent of all live discharges were transferred to a general or shortstay hospital, presumably to receive more intensive care (table 7). Residents, in contrast, 

tended to require less intensive care. For example, only 5 percent of the residents were bedfast compared to 20 percent of the discharged 

population. 

Resident’s average total monthly charge �	 1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . .. $669 

1973-74 . . . . . . . . . . .. $479 

1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . .. $328 

1964 . . . . . . . . . . . . .. $186 

Information on the places to which live dischzu-ges were transferred shows that they were 

more likely to receive continued cme after discharge than to return to a private or semiprivate 

residence. The proportion of live discharges sent 

to another health facility (62 percent) was 

TECHNICAL 

Since the statistics presented in this report 

are based on a sample, they will differ somewhat 

from figures that would have been obtained if a 

complete census had been taken using the same 

schedules, instructions, and procedures. The 

standard error is primarily a measure of the 

variability that occurs by chance because only a 

sample, rather than the entire universe, is surveyed. The standard error ako reflects part of 

the measurement error, but it does not measure 

any systematic biases in the data. The chances 

are about 95 out of 100 that an estimate from 

the sample differs from the value which would 

* be obtained from a complete census by less than 

Table 7. Provisional number and percent distribution of live 

discharges from nursing homes by living arrangements after 

discharge: United States, 1976 

Living arrangement 

after discharge 

All arrangements for live 

discharges .......................... ..... 

Private or semiprivate residence ....... 

Another health facility .... ......... ....... 

Another nursing home ........ ......... 

General or short-stay hospital .. ..... 

Mental hospital ............................. 

Other health facility or 

unknown type ........ .......... .......... 

Unknown or other arrangement ... .... 

Dischar ; from 

nursin( omes 

Percent 

Number istribution 

722,400 100.0 

240,800 33.3 

1448,100 62.0 

96,200 13.3 

322,700 44.7 * * 

* * 

* * 

119.0 percent were known to have died here. 

higher than that sent to a private or semiprivate 

residence (33 percent). Thus the high proportion 

of live discharges was not necessarily due to improved health status; some persons were discharged to another facility because of deterioration of health and the need for more intensive 

care. This is further reflected in the prop~ -tion 

of discharges to another health facility who we.’ 

known to have subsequently died in that facility. Of the 448,100 persons discharged to 

another health faciIity, 19 percent died there. 

Further analysis of the nursing home utilization process, from the inital admission into 

the facility through eventual outcome, wiH be 

presented in subsequent reports. 

NOTES 

twice the standard error. Provisional estimates of 

standard errors for percentages of residents and 

discharges are provided in table I; the provisional 

standard errors for average monthly charges are 

provided in table II. 

The relative standard error of an estimate is 

the standard error of the estimate divided by 

the estimate itself and is expressed as a percentage of the estimate. In this report, an asterisk is shown for any estimate with more than a 

25-percent relative standard error. 

In this report, terms such as “simiIar” and 

“the same” mean that any observed difference 

between two estimates being compared is not 

GPO 927’833 
---

8 adwmdda 

Table 1. Provisional standard errors of percentages of residents Table II. Provisional standard errors of avarage monthly charges 

and discharges 

Estimated percent Number of residents, 

discharges $400 $500 $600 $700 $800 $900$1,000 

(base of percent) 

~g ~ Standard error in dollars 

Standard error in percentage points 

90,000 .......... ... 84 100 116 131 147 162 178 

50,000 ........................ 2.03 4.44 6.12 8.16 9.99 10.19 100,000 ..... ...... 80 95 110 124 139 154 168 

100,000 ..,................,.. 1.43 3.14 4.33 5.77 7.06 7.21 200,000 ........... 56 67 77 88 98 109 119 

200,000 ...................... 1.01 2.22 3.06 4.08 4.99 5.10 400,000 .. ...... ... 4(J 47 55 62 69 76 84 

400,000 ...................... 0.72 1.57 2.16 2.88 3.53 3.60 600,000 ........... 32 38 44 50 56 62 68 

800,000 ...................... 0.51 1.11 1.53 2.04 2.50 2.55 800,000 ........... 28 33 38 43 49 54 59 

1,000,000 ..... ......... ..... 0,45 0,99 1,37 1.82 2.23 2.28 1,000,000 ..,..... 25 30 34 39 43 48 52 

1,200,000 ................... 0.41 0.91 1.25 1.66 2.o4 2.08 11,200,000 ........ 23 27 31 35 39 43 48

statistically significant. Terms such as “greater,” 

“less,” “larger,” and “smaller,” indicate that any” 

observed difference is statistically significant. 

The normaI deviate test with a 0.5 level of sig- I SYMBOLS 

Data not available ............................................ 

nificance was used to test aII comparisons. Since Category not applicable ................................... . . . 

Quantity zero .................................................. all observed differences were not tested, lack of Quantity more than O but less than 0.05 ......... O.; 

comment in the text does not mean that the Figure does not meet standards of reliability 

difference was not statistically significant. or precision ....................... .. .....4.................... * 

Recent Issues of Advance Data From Vital and Health Statistics 

No. 28. Office Visits for Hypertension: National Am- 15-44 Years of Age in the United States, 1970-

bulatory Medical Care Survey, United States, 73 (Issued: April 6, 1978) 

.&n;~8j 975-December 1976 (Issued: April 

, No. 25. Office Vkits to Doctors of Osteopathy: Nati onal Ambulatory Medicrd Care Survey, 

No. 27. Health Characteristics of Minority Groups, United States, 1975 (Issued: March 22, 1978) 

United States, 1976 (Issued: April 14, 1978) 

No. 24. UtiEzation of Selected Medical Practitioners: 

No. 26. Contraceptive Efficacy Among Married Women United States, 1974 (Issued: March 24, 1978) 

A complete list of Advance Data From Vital and Health Statistics is available from the Scientific and Technical 

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