Who transitions to the community from nursing homes? Comparing patterns and predictors for short-stay and long-stay residents.

Little is known about characteristics of those who transition to the community after long stays in nursing facilities. Yet this information is highly relevant to efforts to reduce preventable nursing facility use. This study identifies and compares community transition among short-stay (1-90 days) and long-stay residents (91-365 days) aged 65 + using Kaplan-Meier survival estimates and logistic regression to analyze 3,762 episodes of care in Southern California. Over 90% of community discharges occurred in the first 90 days, and few characteristics predicted discharge after 90 days. The findings inform transition programs' efforts to identify and effectively target residents after 90-day stays.