Monday, February 15, 2010

Vital Signs - Aging - Hospital Type May Play Role in Decision on Feeding Tubes - NYTimes.com

By RONI CARYN RABIN

When nursing home residents with advanced dementia are sent to the hospital, many are given feeding tubes, even though the practice is not believed to help them live longer. Now a new study finds that it is much more prevalent at some hospitals than others.

The study, which appeared in the Feb. 10 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, analyzed more than a quarter of a million admissions of nursing home residents to thousands of hospitals from 2000 to 2007.

Some hospitals inserted feeding tubes in as few as one of every 100 patients with advanced dementia, others in as many as one of three.
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