» Research on Persons with Developmental Disabilities Living at Home
Mental Retardation: Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 225–236.
Deinstitutionalization and Mortality: Findings of a Controlled Research Design in New Jersey
Paul Lerman, Dawn Hall Apgar, and Tameeka Jordan
Abstract
In previous studies of the mortality of deinstitutionalized persons with disabilities in California and Pennsylvania, investigators failed to employ a prospective controlled research design. We identified a sample of 150 “movers” scheduled for placement from an institution and a matched sample of 150 institutional “stayers.” The matching and other risk variables were measured in 1994. Visits to all residences occurred between 1997 and mid-2000 at specified intervals after movers left the institution. Logistic regression analyses identified the 1994 preclosure risk variables of age, low self-care, medical conditions, and epilepsy/seizure disorders as the best ones for explaining all deaths. Adding mover/stayer status and community/institutional placement to the analyses did not enhance the model. Nursing home placements emerged as a postclosure risk variable.
(Received 1/22/02, first decision 4/8/02, accepted 6/7/02.)
Section Editor: Steven J. Taylor
