Outcomes of hospitalization: factors influencing the discharges of African American and white dementia patients.

Data collected through interviews with caregivers of dementia patients compares the hospital dispositions, home or nursing home of 99 African American and 80 white dementia patients. The majority of each group are discharged home, although the influence of factors associated with these outcomes varies. Discharge home for the African Americans is strongly affected by the availability of an alternative caregiver while for the white patients, this availability as well as formal support services increase the probability of discharge home. Although African American patients were more impaired than the white patients, the original plan of the caregivers was to take the patients home while the white caregivers were originally undecided. For both groups, greater cognitive impairment increases the likelihood of institutional placement. African Americans, although satisfied with the final plan, are more likely to be dissatisfied with their involvement in the planning process.