Does Source of Admission Matter? Hospital Outcomes of Older Adults Requiring Nursing Care Hospitalized in Internal Medicine Departments

Background and Objectives: Older nursing-care patients are a clinically complex population with marked functional dependence, cognitive impairment, nutritional vulnerability, and multimorbidity. Although nursing-home residents are often considered at higher risk for adverse outcomes, many highly dependent older adults receive nursing care at home. Materials and Methods: This single-center retrospective cohort study included 501 nursing-care patients hospitalized between December 2022 and December 2023, of whom 334 were admitted from home and 167 from nursing homes. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality; secondary outcomes included length of hospital stay, discharge destination, and 90-day post-discharge mortality among patients discharged alive. Longer-term survival analyses were exploratory. Demographic, clinical, functional, nutritional, laboratory, hospitalization, and mortality data were evaluated.