93The StrokeCog Study: National Survey of Nursing Homes

Abstract

Background: The StrokeCog Study is a programme of research that includes estimation of costs of cognitive impairment following stroke across a range of care settings, including nursing homes in Ireland. To support this, this study aimed to estimate the prevalence of stroke and cognitive impairment in nursing homes in Ireland through a national survey Methods: This was a national survey of 686 residents from 13 randomly selected nursing homes in Ireland. The survey was completed by face‐to‐face interviews with Directors of Nursing in participating nursing homes. The questionnaire sought aggregated data on the number of residents in nursing homes with stroke, mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Results: Preliminary results from the survey suggest that 17.5% of residents in nursing homes in Ireland experienced stroke prior to admission. Of those residents with stroke prior to admission, 82.8% had some level of cognitive impairment, ranging from 18.4% with mild cognitive impairment to 64.4% with dementia. In contrast, 55.0% of those without stroke prior to admission had some level of cognitive impairment, ranging from 8.6% with mild cognitive impairment to 46.5% with dementia. The survey findings also suggest that 59.9% of the nursing home population had cognitive impairment on admission, with the majority of these residents living with dementia. Conclusions: The findings suggest that stroke survivors admitted to nursing homes have higher levels of cognitive impairment than the nursing home population who have not experienced stroke prior to admission. The information provided in the survey will be used to estimate the costs of post‐stroke cognitive impairment in nursing homes in Ireland and the potential cost‐effectiveness of interventions to improve cognitive outcomes post‐stroke.