The impact of a national quality register in the analysis of risks and adverse events among older adults in nursing homes and hospital wards—a Swedish Senior Alert survey

Abstract

The proportion of elderly in the population in Sweden is increasing. Older adults are more vulnerable to disease and disability which in turn increases the prevalence of negative events as pressure ulcers, malnutrition, falls, and oral health problems. By using Senior Alert (SA), a quality registry for care prevention, analyze data concerning risks and adverse events and show the potential of the register for quality improvement and research in nursing homes and hospitals. There are differences in the prevalence of pressure ulcers and weight loss in nursing homes compared to hospitals, explained by different risk scores in the assessment tools used as well as differences in the populations with regard to age and days to follow-up. Falls are more prevalent in nursing homes. Fall prevalence decreases more with higher pressure ulcer risk due to factors such as degree of mobility; the fall prevalence decreases for even higher pressure ulcer risk. The team around the older person needs a more inter-professional profile including healthcare such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, and dental health professionals. The study is an observational retrospective register-based study, using data from SA during 2015.