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Approximately 1 in 100 postpartum individuals visit an emergency department (ED) for a psychiatric reason. Repeat visits can signify problems with the quality of care received during or after the initial visit; this study aimed to understand risk for repeat postpartum psychiatric ED visits.

ICU survivors often have complex care needs and can experience insufficient medication reconciliation and polypharmacy. It is unknown which ICU survivors are at risk of new sedative use posthospitalization.

Dementia and mild cognitive impairment can be underrecognized in primary care practice and research. Free-text fields in electronic medical records (EMRs) are a rich source of information which might support increased detection and enable a better understanding of populations at risk of dementia. We used natural language processing (NLP) to identify dementia-related features in EMRs and compared the performance of supervised machine learning models to classify patients with dementia. We assembled a cohort of primary care patients aged 66 + years in Ontario, Canada, from EMR notes collected until December 2016: 526 with dementia and 44,148 without dementia. We identified dementia-related features by applying published lists, clinician input, and NLP with word embeddings to free-text progress and consult notes and organized features into thematic groups. Using machine learning models, we compared the performance of features to detect dementia, overall and during time periods relative to dementia case ascertainment in health administrative databases. Over 900 dementia-related features were identified and grouped into eight themes (including symptoms, social, function, cognition). Using notes from all time periods, LASSO had the best performance (F1 score: 77.2%, sensitivity: 71.5%, specificity: 99.8%). Model performance was poor when notes written before case ascertainment were included (F1 score: 14.4%, sensitivity: 8.3%, specificity 99.9%) but improved as later notes were added. While similar models may eventually improve recognition of cognitive issues and dementia in primary care EMRs, our findings suggest that further research is needed to identify which additional EMR components might be useful to promote early detection of dementia.

Not all is lost for older adults who experience functional decline following EGS admission – half will recover to independence. Fluctuations in function in the years following EGS may represent opportunities for interventions to promote rehabilitation and recovery.

Emergency department visits for a psychiatric reason in the post-partum period represent an acute need for mental health care at a crucial time, but little is known about the extent of timely outpatient follow-up after these visits or how individual and intersecting social determinants of health influence this outcome. This study aimed to examine outpatient mental health care follow-up by a physician in the 30 days after an individual attended the emergency department for a psychiatric reason in the post-partum period and understand how social determinants of health affect who receives follow-up care.

Background:Because there are no standardized reporting systems specific to residents of retirement homes in North America, little is known about the health of this distinct population of older adults. We evaluated rates of health services use by residents of retirement homes relative to those of residents of long-term care homes and other populations of older adults.Methods:We conducted a retrospective cohort study using population health administrative data from 2018 on adults 65 years or older in Ontario. We matched the postal codes of individuals to those of licensed retirement homes to identify residents of retirement homes. Outcomes included rates of hospital-based care and physician visits.Results:We identified 54 733 residents of 757 retirement homes (mean age 86.7 years, 69.0% female) and 2 354 385 residents of other settings. Compared to residents of long-term care homes, residents of retirement homes had significantly higher rates per 1000 person months of emergency department visits (10.62 v. 4.48, adjusted relative rate [RR] 2.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.55 to 2.67), hospital admissions (5.42 v. 2.08, adjusted RR 2.77, 95% CI 2.71 to 2.82), alternate level of care (ALC) days (6.01 v. 2.96, adjusted RR 1.51, 95% CI 1.48 to 1.54), and specialist physician visits (6.27 v. 3.21, adjusted RR 1.64, 95% CI 1.61 to 1.68), but a significantly lower rate of primary care visits (16.71 v. 108.47, adjusted RR 0.13, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.14).Interpretation:Residents of retirement homes are a distinct population with higher rates of hospital-based care. Our findings can help to inform policy debates about the need for more coordinated primary and supportive health care in privately operated congregate care homes.

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BACKGROUND:Prognostication tools that report personalized mortality risk and survival could improve discussions about end-of-life and advance care planning. We sought to develop and validate a mortality risk model for older adults with diverse care needs in home care using self-reportable information — the Risk Evaluation for Support: Predictions for Elder-Life in the Community Tool (RESPECT).METHODS:Using a derivation cohort that comprised adults living in Ontario, Canada, aged 50 years and older with at least 1 Resident Assessment Instrument for Home Care (RAI-HC) record between Jan. 1, 2007, and Dec. 31, 2012, we developed a mortality risk model. The primary outcome was mortality 6 months after a RAI-HC assessment. We used proportional hazards regression with robust standard errors to account for clustering by the individual. We validated this algorithm for a second cohort of users of home care who were assessed between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2013. We used Kaplan–Meier survival curves to estimate the observed risk of death at 6 months for assessment of calibration and median survival. We constructed 61 risk groups based on incremental increases in the estimated median survival of about 3 weeks among adults at high risk and 3 months among adults at lower risk.RESULTS:The derivation and validation cohorts included 435 009 and 139 388 adults, respectively. We identified a total of 122 823 deaths within 6 months of a RAI-HC assessment in the derivation cohort. The mean predicted 6-month mortality risk was 10.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] 10.7%–10.8%) and ranged from 1.54% (95% CI 1.53%–1.54%) in the lowest to 98.1% (95% CI 98.1%–98.2%) in the highest risk group. Estimated median survival spanned from 28 days (11 to 84 d at the 25th and 75th percentiles) in the highest risk group to over 8 years (1925 to 3420 d) in the lowest risk group. The algorithm had a c-statistic of 0.753 (95% CI 0.750–0.756) in our validation cohort.INTERPRETATION:The RESPECT mortality risk prediction tool that makes use of readily available information can improve the identification of palliative and end-of-life care needs in a diverse older adult population receiving home care.

Objectives: Cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) and memantine are approved for Alzheimer disease in Canada. Regional drug reimbursement policies are associated with cross-provincial variation in ChEI use, but it is unclear how these policies influence predictors of use. Using standardized data from two provinces with differing policies, we compared resident-level characteristics associated with dementia pharmacotherapy at long-term care (LTC) admission.Methods: Using linked clinical and administrative databases, we examined characteristics associated with dementia pharmacotherapy use among residents with dementia and/or significant cognitive impairment admitted to LTC facilities in Saskatchewan (more restrictive reimbursement policies; n= 10,599) and Ontario (less restrictive; n= 93,331) between April 1, 2009, and March 31, 2015. Multivariable logistic regression models were utilized to assess resident demographic, functional, and clinical characteristics associated with dementia pharmacotherapy.Results: On admission, 8.1% of Saskatchewan residents were receiving dementia pharmacotherapy compared to 33.2% in Ontario. In both provinces, residents with severe cognitive impairment, aggressive behaviors, and recent antipsychotic use were more likely to receive dementia pharmacotherapy; while those who were unmarried, admitted in later years, had a greater degree of frailty, and recent hospitalizations were less likely. The direction of the association for older age, rural residency, medication number, and anticholinergic therapy differed between provinces.Conclusions: While more restrictive criteria for dementia pharmacotherapy coverage in Saskatchewan resulted in fewer residents entering LTC on dementia pharmacotherapy, there were relatively few differences in the factors associated with use across provinces. Longitudinal studies are needed to assess how differences in prevalence and characteristics associated with use impact patient outcomes.

AbstractBackground:Antibiotic use in nursing homes is often inappropriate, in terms of overuse and misuse, and it can be linked to adverse events and antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) can optimize antibiotic use by minimizing unnecessary prescriptions, treatment cost, and the overall spread of antimicrobial resistance. Nursing home providers and residents are candidates for ASP implementation, yet guidelines for implementation are limited.Objective:To support nursing home providers with the selection and adoption of ASP interventions.Design and Setting:A multiphase modified Delphi method to assess 15 ASP interventions across criteria addressing scientific merit, feasibility, impact, accountability, and importance. This study included surveys supplemented with a 1-day consensus meeting.Participants:A 16-member multidisciplinary panel of experts and resident representatives.Results:From highest to lowest, 6 interventions were prioritized by the panel: (1) guidelines for empiric prescribing, (2) audit and feedback, (3) communication tools, (4) short-course antibiotic therapy, (5) scheduled antibiotic reassessment, and (6) clinical decision support systems. Several interventions were not endorsed: antibiograms, educational interventions, formulary review, and automatic substitution. A lack of nursing home resources was noted, which could impede multifaceted interventions.Conclusions:Nursing home providers should consider 6 key interventions for ASPs. Such interventions may be feasible for nursing home settings and impactful for improving antibiotic use; however, scientific merit supporting each is variable. A multifaceted approach may be necessary for long-term improvement but difficult to implement.

IMPORTANCE: Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) are commonly prescribed agents for hypertension that can cause peripheral edema. A prescribing cascade occurs when the edema is misinterpreted as a new medical condition and a diuretic is subsequently prescribed to treat the edema. The extent to which this prescribing cascade occurs at a population level is not well understood. OBJECTIVE: To measure the association between being newly dispensed a CCB and subsequent dispensing of a loop diuretic in older adults with hypertension. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A population-based cohort study was performed using linked health administrative databases of community-dwelling adults 66 years or older with hypertension and new prescription drug claims from September 30, 2011, to September 30, 2016, in Ontario, Canada. The dates of analysis were September 1, 2018, to May 30, 2019. EXPOSURES: Individuals who were newly dispensed a CCB were compared with the following 2 groups: (1) individuals who were newly dispensed an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin II receptor blocker and (2) individuals who were newly dispensed an unrelated medication. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% CIs were estimated for individuals who were dispensed a loop diuretic within 90 days of follow-up using Cox proportional hazards regression models. RESULTS: The cohort included 41 086 older adults (≥66 years) with hypertension who were newly dispensed a CCB, 66 494 individuals who were newly dispensed another antihypertensive medication, and 231 439 individuals who were newly dispensed an unrelated medication. At index (ie, the dispensing date), the mean (SD) age was 74.5 (6.9) years, and 191 685 (56.5%) were women. Individuals who were newly dispensed a CCB had a higher cumulative incidence at 90 days of being dispensed a loop diuretic than individuals in both control groups (1.4% vs 0.7% and 0.5%, P < .001). After adjustment, individuals who were newly dispensed a CCB had increased relative rates of being dispensed a loop diuretic compared with individuals who were newly dispensed an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin II receptor blocker (HR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.38-2.05 in the first 30 days after index [days 1-30]; 2.26; 95% CI, 1.76-2.92 in the subsequent 30 days [days 31-60]; and 2.40; 95% CI, 1.84-3.13 in the third month of follow-up [days 61-90]) and individuals who were newly dispensed unrelated medications (HR, 2.51; 95% CI, 2.13-2.96 for 1-30 days after index; 2.99; 95% CI, 2.43-3.69 for 31-60 days after index; and 3.89; 95% CI, 3.11-4.87 for 61-90 days after index). This association persisted, although slightly attenuated, from 90 days to up to 1 year of follow-up and when restricted to a subgroup of individuals who were newly dispensed amlodipine. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Many older adults with hypertension who are newly dispensed a CCB subsequently receive a loop diuretic. Given how widely CCBs are prescribed, interventions are needed to raise clinicians’ awareness of this common prescribing cascade to reduce the prescribing of potentially unnecessary medications that may cause harm.

ABSTRACT:Background:Women are more likely to be admitted to nursing home after stroke than men. Differences in patient characteristics and outcomes by sex after institutionalization are less understood. We examined sex differences in the characteristics and care needs of patients admitted to nursing home following stroke and their subsequent survival.Methods:We identified patients with stroke newly admitted to nursing home between April 2011 and March 2016 in Ontario, Canada, with follow-up until March 2018 using linked administrative data. We calculated prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the primary outcomes of dependence for activities of daily living, cognitive impairment, frailty, health instability, and symptoms of depression or pain, comparing women to men. The secondary outcome was all-cause mortality.Results:Among 4831 patients, 60.9% were women. Compared to men, women were older (median age [interquartile range, IQR]: 84 [78, 89] vs. 80 [71, 86]), more likely to be frail (prevalence ratio 1.14, 95% CI [1.08, 1.19]), have unstable health (1.45 [1.28, 1.66]), and experience symptoms of depression (1.25 [1.11, 1.40]) or pain (1.21 [1.13, 1.30]), and less likely to have aggressive behaviors (0.87 [0.80, 0.94]). Overall median survival was 2.9 years. In a propensity-score-matched cohort, women had lower mortality than men (hazard ratio 0.85, 95% CI [0.77, 0.94]), but in the age-stratified survival analysis, the survival advantage in women was limited to those aged 75 years and older.Conclusions:Despite lower subsequent mortality, women admitted to nursing home after stroke required more care than men. Pain and depression are two treatable symptoms that disproportionately affect women.

•What is the primary question addressed by this study?How does the prevalence of hyperpolypharmacy (ten or more medications) and common drug classes change over time among older adults prior to nursing home admission?•What is the main finding of this study?In the ten years prior to nursing home admission, the prevalence of hyperpolypharmacy nearly increased three-fold among older adults aged 75 years and older.Following admission, the prevalence of hyperpolypharmacy increased further and then stabilized thereafter.Trends over time varied by drug classes with antidepressants (three-fold), antipsychotics (seven-fold) and cholinesterase inhibitors (14-fold) showing increasing trends prior to admission, while cardiovascular medications peaked approximately 4 to 5 years prior to admission.•What is the meaning of the finding?There might be opportunities for medication reconciliation initiatives throughout the life course (in both community settings prior to admission and subsequent nursing home settings) to ensure medication appropriateness and support deprescribing, if clinically appropriate.

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BACKGROUND:Guidance from randomized clinical trials about the ongoing benefits of statin therapies in residents of long-term care facilities is lacking. We sought to examine the effect of statin dose on 1-year survival and admission to hospital for cardiovascular events in this setting.METHODS:We conducted a retrospective cohort study using population-based administrative data from Ontario, Canada. We identified 21 808 residents in long-term care facilities who were 76 years of age and older and were prevalent statin users on the date of a full clinical assessment between April 2013 and March 2014, and categorized residents as intensive- or moderate-dose users. Treatment groups were matched on age, sex, admission to hospital for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, resident frailty and propensity score. Differences in 1-year survival and admission to hospital for cardiovascular events were measured using Cox proportional and subdistribution hazard models, respectively.RESULTS:Using propensity-score matching, we included 4577 well-balanced pairs of residents who were taking intensive- and moderate-dose statins. After 1 year, there were 1210 (26.4%) deaths and 524 (11.5%) admissions to hospital for cardiovascular events among residents using moderate-dose statins compared with 1173 (25.6%) deaths and 522 (11.4%) admissions to hospital for cardiovascular events among those taking intensive-dose statins. We found no significant association between prevalent use of intensive-dose statins and 1-year survival (hazard ratio [HR] 0.97, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.90 to 1.05) or 1-year admission to hospital for cardiovascular events (HR 0.99, 95% CI 0.88 to 1.12) compared with use of moderate-dose statins.INTERPRETATION:The rates of mortality and admission to hospital for cardiovascular events at 1 year were similar between residents in long-term care taking intensive-dose statins compared with those taking moderate-dose statins. This lack of benefit should be considered when prescribing statins to vulnerable residents of long-term care facilities who are at potentially increased risk of statin-related adverse events.

Antipsychotic drugs are commonly used to treat psychosis in patients with Parkinson disease; however, individuals with parkinsonism are at risk for serious adverse effects with antipsychotic use. The choice of antipsychotic is critical.

BACKGROUND:The extent to which home care visits contribute to the delay or avoidance of emergency department use is poorly characterized. We examined the association between home care visits and same-day emergency department use among patients receiving publicly funded home care.METHODS:We conducted a population-based case–crossover study among patients receiving publicly funded home care in the Hamilton–Niagara–Haldimand–Brant region of Ontario between January and December 2015. Within individuals, all days with emergency department visits after 5 pm were selected as cases and matched with control days from the previous week. The cohort was stratified according to whether patients had ongoing home care needs (“long stay”) or short-term home care needs (“short stay”). We used conditional logistical regression to estimate the association between receiving a home care visit during the day and visiting the emergency department after 5 pm on the same day.RESULTS:A total of 4429 long-stay patients contributed 5893 emergency department visits, and 2836 short-stay patients contributed 3476 visits. Receiving a home care nursing visit was associated with an increased likelihood of visiting the emergency department after 5 pm on the same day in both long-stay (odds ratio [OR] 1.32, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17–1.48) and short-stay patients (OR 1.22, 95% CI 1.07–1.39). Stronger associations were observed for less acute visits to the emergency department. No associations were observed for other types of home care visits.INTERPRETATION:Patients receiving home care were more likely to visit the emergency department during the evening on days they received a nursing visit. The mechanism of the association between home care visits and same-day emergency department use and the extent to which same-day emergency department visits could be prevented or diverted require additional investigation.

BACKGROUND:Trazodone is increasingly prescribed for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, but little is known about its risk of harm. Our objective was to describe the comparative risk of falls and fractures among older adults with dementia dispensed trazodone or atypical antipsychotics.METHODS:The study cohort included adults with dementia (excluding patients with chronic psychotic illnesses) living in long-term care and aged 66 years and older. Data were obtained from routinely collected, linked health administrative databases in Ontario, Canada. We compared new users of trazodone with new users of atypical antipsychotics (quetiapine, olanzapine or risperidone) between Dec. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2015. The primary outcome was a composite of fall or major osteoporotic fracture within 90 days of first prescription. Secondary outcomes were falls, major osteoporotic fractures, hip fractures and all-cause mortality.RESULTS:We included 6588 older adults dispensed trazodone and 2875 dispensed an atypical antipsychotic, of whom 95.2% received a low dose of these medications. Compared with use of atypical antipsychotics, use of trazodone was associated with similar rates of falls or major osteoporotic fractures (weighted hazard ratio [HR] 0.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.73 to 1.07), major osteoporotic fracture (weighted HR 1.03, 95% CI 0.73 to 1.47), falls (weighted HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.75 to 1.11) and hip fractures (weighted HR 0.92, 95% CI 0.59 to 1.43). Use of trazodone was associated with a lower rate of mortality (weighted HR 0.75, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.85).INTERPRETATION:Trazodone is not a uniformly safer alternative to atypical antipsychotics, given the similar risk of falls and fractures among older adults with dementia.

BACKGROUND:Despite the fact that many older adults receive home or long-term care services, the effect of these care settings on hospital readmission is often overlooked. Efforts to reduce hospital readmissions, including capacity planning and targeting of interventions, require clear data on the frequency of and risk factors for readmission among different populations of older adults.METHODS:We identified all adults older than 65 years discharged from an unplanned medical hospital stay in Ontario between April 2008 and December 2015. We defined 2 preadmission care settings (community, long-term care) and 3 discharge care settings (community, home care, long-term care) and used multinomial regression to estimate associations with 30-day readmission (and death as a competing risk).RESULTS:We identified 701 527 individuals (mean age 78.4 yr), of whom 414 302 (59.1%) started in and returned to the community. Overall, 88 305 in dividuals (12.6%) were re admitted within 30 days, but this proportion varied by care setting combination. Relative to individuals returning to the community, those discharged to the community with home care (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.39–1.46) and those returning to long-term care (adjusted OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.27–1.43) had a greater risk of readmission, whereas those newly admitted to long-term care had a lower risk of readmission (adjusted OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.63–0.72).INTERPRETATION:In Ontario, about 40% of older people were discharged from hospital to either home care or long-term care. These discharge settings, as well as whether an individual was admitted to hospital from long-term care, have important implications for understanding 30-day readmission rates. System planning and efforts to reduce readmission among older adults should take into account care settings at both admission and discharge.

To examine associations between baseline frailty measures, antipsychotic use, and hospitalization over 1 year and whether hospitalization risk associated with antipsychotic use varies by frailty level.

To evaluate the impact of comorbidity on diabetes care quality and diabetes-related hospitalizations and to examine whether associations between the likelihood of diabetes-related hospitalizations and compliance with diabetes testing are modified by type of comorbidity.

BACKGROUND:Understanding the extent to which current antibiotic prescribing behaviour is influenced by clinicians’ historical patterns of practice will help target interventions to optimize antibiotic use in long-term care. Our objective was to evaluate whether clinicians’ historical prescribing behaviours influence the start, prolongation and class selection for treatment with antibiotics in residents of long-term care facilities.METHODS:We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all physicians who prescribed to residents in long-term care facilities in Ontario between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2014. We examined variability in antibiotic prescribing among physicians for 3 measures: start of treatment with antibiotics, use of prolonged durations exceeding 7 days and selection of fluoroquinolones. Funnel plots with control limits were used to determine the extent of variation and characterize physicians as extreme low, low, average, high and extreme high prescribers for each tendency. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess whether a clinician’s prescribing tendency in the previous year predicted current prescribing patterns, after accounting for residents’ demographics, comorbidity, functional status and indwelling devices.RESULTS:Among 1695 long-term care physicians, who prescribed for 93 132 residents, there was wide variability in the start of antibiotic treatment (median 45% of patients, interquartile range [IQR] 32%–55%), use of prolonged treatment durations (median 30% of antibiotic prescriptions, IQR 19%–46%) and selection of fluoroquinolones (median 27% of antibiotic prescriptions, IQR 18%–37%). Prescribing tendencies for antibiotics by physicians in 2014 correlated strongly with tendencies in the previous year. After controlling for individual resident characteristics, prior prescribing tendency was a significant predictor of current practice.INTERPRETATION:Physicians prescribing antibiotics exhibited individual, measurable and historical tendencies toward start of antibiotic treatment, use of prolonged treatment duration and class selection. Prescriber audit and feedback may be a promising tool to optimize antibiotic use in long-term care facilities.

•Language discordance (when a patient's primary spoken language differs from the primary language of the health system) is associated with worse post-stroke functional outcomes and greater neurovascular risk compared to language concordant participants.•Language concordance is a simple, readily available marker to identify those at risk of worse outcome.•Adaptive care models, treatments and education strategies may be needed to mitigate barriers influenced by language discordance.

•What is the primary question addressed by this study?Following years of initiatives to reduce potentially inappropriate antipsychotic use in nursing homes, are there differences in the initiation of trazodone among newly admitted residents over time?•What is the main finding of this study?Relative to those admitted in 2014 (a period associated with and leading up to several antipsychotic reduction efforts in Ontario, Canada), residents admitted prior (2010–2013) were more likely to be initiated on an antipsychotic, while residents admitted after (2015–2018) were less likely to be initiated on an antipsychotic.Residents with dementia showed greater changes in medication initiation by year of admission, such that those admitted in the later period were more likely to be initiated on trazodone and less likely to be initiated on an antipsychotic compared to residents with dementia admitted in 2014.•What is the meaning of the finding?Following efforts to reduce potentially inappropriate antipsychotic use in nursing homes, this study suggests a potential change to prescribing behavior over time, with trazodone possibly being initiated in lieu of antipsychotics for dementia symptoms.

IMPORTANCE: Antibiotics are frequently and often inappropriately prescribed to patients in nursing homes. These antibiotics pose direct risks to recipients and indirect risks to others residing in the home. OBJECTIVE: To examine whether living in a nursing home with high antibiotic use is associated with an increased risk of antibiotic-related adverse outcomes for individual residents. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In this longitudinal open-cohort study performed from January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2011, we studied 110 656 older adults residing in 607 nursing homes in Ontario, Canada. EXPOSURES: Nursing home–level antibiotic use was defined as use-days per 1000 resident-days, and facilities were classified as high, medium, and low use according to tertile of use. Multivariable logistic regression modeling was performed to assess the effect of nursing home–level antibiotic use on the individual risk of antibiotic-related adverse outcomes. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Antibiotic-related harms included Clostridium difficile, diarrhea or gastroenteritis, antibiotic-resistant organisms (which can directly affect recipients and indirectly affect nonrecipients), allergic reactions, and general medication adverse events (which can affect only recipients). RESULTS: Antibiotics were provided on 2 783 000 of 50 953 000 resident-days in nursing homes (55 antibiotic-days per 1000 resident-days). Antibiotic use was highly variable across homes, ranging from 20.4 to 192.9 antibiotic-days per 1000 resident-days. Antibiotic-related adverse events were more common (13.3%) in residents of high-use homes than among residents of medium-use (12.4%) or low-use homes (11.4%) (P < .001); this trend persisted even among the residents who did not receive antibiotic treatments. The primary analysis indicated that residence in a high-use nursing home was associated with an increased risk of a resident experiencing an antibiotic-related adverse event (adjusted odds ratio, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.07-1.42; P = .003). A sensitivity analysis examining nursing home–level antibiotic use as a continuous variable confirmed an increased risk of resident-level antibiotic-related harms (adjusted odds ratio, 1.004 per additional day of nursing home antibiotic use; 95% CI, 1.001-1.006; P = .01). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Antibiotic use is highly variable across nursing homes; residents of high-use homes are exposed to an increased risk of antibiotic-related harms even if they have not directly received these agents. Antibiotic stewardship is needed to improve the safety of all nursing home residents.

IMPORTANCE Given that most common bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotic courses of 7 or fewer days, reducing standard antibiotic treatment durations may be an avenue to curtailing antibiotic overuse in long-term care. OBJECTIVES To describe the variability in the duration of antibiotic treatment courses in long-term care across resident recipients and prescribing physicians and to determine whether this variability is influenced by prescriber preference. DESIGN AND SETTING Province-wide retrospective analysis of residents of Ontario, Canada, long-term care facilities in 2010. PARTICIPANTS All adults aged 66 years or older who received an incident treatment course with a systemic antibiotic while residing in an Ontario long-term care facility. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Antibiotic treatment duration was examined across residents and prescribing physicians. The proportion of a physician's treatment courses that exceeded 7 days was used to classify short-, average-, and long-duration prescribers. RESULTS Of 66 901 long-term care residents from 630 long-term care facilities, 50 061 (77.8%) received an incident antibiotic treatment course (with 51 540 antibiotic courses prescribed). The most commonly selected antibiotic treatment course was 7 days (in 21 136 courses [41.0%]), but 23 124 (44.9%) exceeded 7 days. Among the 699 physicians responsible for 20 or more antibiotic treatment courses, the median (interquartile range) proportion of treatment courses beyond 7 days was 43.5% (26.9%-62.9%) (range, 0%-97.1%). Twenty-one percent of prescribers had a higher-than-expected proportion of prescriptions beyond the 7-day threshold. Patient characteristics were similar across short-, average-, and long-duration prescribers. A mixed logistic model confirmed that prescribers were an important determinant of treatment duration (P < .001), with a relative odds of prolonged prescription of 3.84 for 75th vs 25th percentile prescribers. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Antibiotic treatment courses in long-term care facilities are often prescribed for long durations, and this appears to be influenced by prescriber preference more than patient characteristics. Future trials should evaluate antibiotic stewardship interventions targeting prescriber preferences to systematically shorten average treatment durations to reduce the complications, costs, and resistance associated with antibiotic overuse.

To evaluate factors that may contribute to the increased stroke case fatality rates observed in individuals from low-income areas.