Who lives in care homes in Greenland? A nationwide survey of demographics, functional level, medication use and comorbidities
Abstract Background Greenland is facing an ageing population, and little is known about the characteristics of the elderly population in Greenland. This study offers both a comparison and a description of the demographics, causes of admission, comorbidities and medication of the residents in care ho...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:efdeec76f2cb412fa680c94674f596c2 2023-05-15T15:17:30+02:00 Who lives in care homes in Greenland? A nationwide survey of demographics, functional level, medication use and comorbidities N Albertsen TM Olsen TG Sommer A Prischl H Kallerup S Andersen 2021-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-021-02442-0 https://doaj.org/article/efdeec76f2cb412fa680c94674f596c2 EN eng BMC https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-021-02442-0 https://doaj.org/toc/1471-2318 doi:10.1186/s12877-021-02442-0 1471-2318 https://doaj.org/article/efdeec76f2cb412fa680c94674f596c2 BMC Geriatrics, Vol 21, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2021) Arctic Greenland Elderly Care Homes Inuit Barthel Index Geriatrics RC952-954.6 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-021-02442-0 2022-12-31T13:11:10Z Abstract Background Greenland is facing an ageing population, and little is known about the characteristics of the elderly population in Greenland. This study offers both a comparison and a description of the demographics, causes of admission, comorbidities and medication of the residents in care homes in the capital, major and minor towns in four of the five administrative regions of Greenland. Methods The study was conducted from 2010 to 2016 as a descriptive questionnaire-based cross-sectional study. Data from eligible residents from eight care homes were collected from the regular care staff. Data were categorised into three groups based on town size for analysis. Results 244 (100 %) of eligible residents participated in the study. Nearly 100 % were of Greenlandic ethnicity based on parents’ place of birth, and 62 % were women. The median age at admission/study was 69/71 years for men and 77/79 years for women (both p = 0.001). The median Body Mass Index was 25.6 kg/m2, more than half of the population were previous- or never-smokers and less than ten per cent consumed more than ten drinks of alcohol per week. The most common causes of admission were dementia (25.4 %), stroke (19.3 %) and social causes (11.1 %), while stroke (30.7 %), dementia (29.5 %) and musculoskeletal diseases (25.8 %) were the most common diagnoses at the time of the study. The Barthel Index was used to estimate the residents’ level of independence, and residents in smaller towns were found to have a higher level of independence than residents in the capital. The median number of prescribed medications was five, and more residents in the capital were prescribed more than ten medications than elsewhere in Greenland. Conclusions This study is the first to describe care home residents in Greenland. We found a population younger than residents in comparable Danish care homes and that women were older than men at admission. In addition, care home residents in the capital had a lower level of independence and a higher number of prescribed ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Greenland greenlandic inuit Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Greenland BMC Geriatrics 21 1 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic Greenland Elderly Care Homes Inuit Barthel Index Geriatrics RC952-954.6 |
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Arctic Greenland Elderly Care Homes Inuit Barthel Index Geriatrics RC952-954.6 N Albertsen TM Olsen TG Sommer A Prischl H Kallerup S Andersen Who lives in care homes in Greenland? A nationwide survey of demographics, functional level, medication use and comorbidities |
topic_facet |
Arctic Greenland Elderly Care Homes Inuit Barthel Index Geriatrics RC952-954.6 |
description |
Abstract Background Greenland is facing an ageing population, and little is known about the characteristics of the elderly population in Greenland. This study offers both a comparison and a description of the demographics, causes of admission, comorbidities and medication of the residents in care homes in the capital, major and minor towns in four of the five administrative regions of Greenland. Methods The study was conducted from 2010 to 2016 as a descriptive questionnaire-based cross-sectional study. Data from eligible residents from eight care homes were collected from the regular care staff. Data were categorised into three groups based on town size for analysis. Results 244 (100 %) of eligible residents participated in the study. Nearly 100 % were of Greenlandic ethnicity based on parents’ place of birth, and 62 % were women. The median age at admission/study was 69/71 years for men and 77/79 years for women (both p = 0.001). The median Body Mass Index was 25.6 kg/m2, more than half of the population were previous- or never-smokers and less than ten per cent consumed more than ten drinks of alcohol per week. The most common causes of admission were dementia (25.4 %), stroke (19.3 %) and social causes (11.1 %), while stroke (30.7 %), dementia (29.5 %) and musculoskeletal diseases (25.8 %) were the most common diagnoses at the time of the study. The Barthel Index was used to estimate the residents’ level of independence, and residents in smaller towns were found to have a higher level of independence than residents in the capital. The median number of prescribed medications was five, and more residents in the capital were prescribed more than ten medications than elsewhere in Greenland. Conclusions This study is the first to describe care home residents in Greenland. We found a population younger than residents in comparable Danish care homes and that women were older than men at admission. In addition, care home residents in the capital had a lower level of independence and a higher number of prescribed ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
N Albertsen TM Olsen TG Sommer A Prischl H Kallerup S Andersen |
author_facet |
N Albertsen TM Olsen TG Sommer A Prischl H Kallerup S Andersen |
author_sort |
N Albertsen |
title |
Who lives in care homes in Greenland? A nationwide survey of demographics, functional level, medication use and comorbidities |
title_short |
Who lives in care homes in Greenland? A nationwide survey of demographics, functional level, medication use and comorbidities |
title_full |
Who lives in care homes in Greenland? A nationwide survey of demographics, functional level, medication use and comorbidities |
title_fullStr |
Who lives in care homes in Greenland? A nationwide survey of demographics, functional level, medication use and comorbidities |
title_full_unstemmed |
Who lives in care homes in Greenland? A nationwide survey of demographics, functional level, medication use and comorbidities |
title_sort |
who lives in care homes in greenland? a nationwide survey of demographics, functional level, medication use and comorbidities |
publisher |
BMC |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-021-02442-0 https://doaj.org/article/efdeec76f2cb412fa680c94674f596c2 |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Greenland greenlandic inuit |
genre_facet |
Arctic Greenland greenlandic inuit |
op_source |
BMC Geriatrics, Vol 21, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-021-02442-0 https://doaj.org/toc/1471-2318 doi:10.1186/s12877-021-02442-0 1471-2318 https://doaj.org/article/efdeec76f2cb412fa680c94674f596c2 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-021-02442-0 |
container_title |
BMC Geriatrics |
container_volume |
21 |
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1 |
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