LATE-LIFE DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS FOLLOWING NURSING HOME OR INPATIENT REHABILITATION IN MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES

Introduction Millions of Medicare beneficiaries receive rehabilitation services in skilled nursing facilities or inpatient rehabilitation facilities. This study was designed to study whether receipt of rehabilitation services in nursing homes or inpatient settings is associated with clinically significant depressive symptoms at follow-up among older adult Medicare beneficiaries. Methods We utilized data from National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), which is an annual survey of a nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years and older. Our study included 6,329 participants of the 2015 and 2016 NHATS interviews. The PHQ-2 assessed for the presence of clinically significant depression, and interview questions addressed rehabilitation, demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, and health and functioning variables. Results Medicare beneficiaries who received rehabilitation services in nursing home or inpatient settings had higher levels of depression at follow-up than those who did not receive these services (25.2% vs. 11.1%; p Conclusions Even after accounting for factors such as medical conditions, baseline depressive symptoms, and changes in ability to engage in self-care and household activities, older adults who receive nursing home or inpatient rehabilitation services comprise an at-risk group for having depression. As depression is associated with considerable morbidity and can interfere with the rehabilitation process, additional efforts to identify and treat depression in these older adults may be warranted. This research was funded by The National Health and Aging Trends Study dataset is publicly available and is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (grant number NIA U01AG032947) through a cooperative agreement with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Simning was supported by the National Institute on Aging (K23AG058757). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official views of the NIH.