Utility of the Care Dependency Scale in predicting care needs and health risks of elderly patients admitted to a geriatric unit: a cross-sectional study of 200 consecutive patients

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of geriatric patients (N=200) by level of care dependency

Characteristics	All, N=200	Level of care dependency
		High dependency (15–44), n=47	Medium dependency (45–59), n=54	Low dependency (60–75), n=99	p-value
Sum score CDS test, mean±SD (15–75)	55.3±15.1	33.2±8.2	52.2±6.0	67.5±4.6	0.000
Age in years, mean±SD	81.8±6.6	83.0±7.2	83.6±6.3	80.2±6.0	0.001
Female, %	69.0	61.7	68.5	72.7	0.404
Married, %	35.0	34.0	29.6	26.3	0.867
Living alone, yes	38.0	36.2	51.8	52.5	0.422
Subjective well-being
Feeling loneliness, %
Never	30.0	27.6	25.8	33.3	0.372
Sometimes	55.0	57.5	53.7	54.5
Often	15.0	14.9	20.4	12.1
Self-rated health, %
Significantly better	5.0	0.0	7.4	7.4	0.000
Moderately better	37.5	19.1	35.2	47.5
Moderately worse	41.0	42.6	40.7	40.4
Significantly worse	16.5	31.3	16.7	6.0
GDS, mean±SD (0–15)	6.0±3.7	6.9±3.6	6.8±3.2	5.3±3.9	0.007
Objective measures or states
Barthel Index, mean±SD (0–100)	77.0±26.7	43.0±30.9	76.4±14.0	93.4±8.2	0.000
I-ADL, mean±SD (0–12)	6.4±3.8	2.2±2.5	5.3±2.6	9.0±2.4	0.000
Norton scale, mean±SD (0–20)	16.6±3.0	13.1±3.3	16.2±1.8	18.4±1.6	0.000
AMTS, mean±SD (0–10)	6.4±2.8	5.1±2.8	5.6±2.9	7.4±2.4	0.000
Tinetti fall risk test, %	59.0	87.2	79.6	31.3	0.000
Problem with locomotion (yes), %	69.0	94.0	87.0	52.5	0.000
Problem with vision (yes), %	40.0	57.4	55.5	29.2	0.001
Problem with hearing (yes), %	43.0	53.2	55.6	31.3	0.004

Note: The p-value reflects the significance of mentioned characteristics in levels of care dependency.

Abbreviations: AMTS, Abbreviated Mental Test Scoring; CDS, Care Dependency Scale; GDS, Geriatric Depression Scale; I-ADL, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living.

Table 2 Mean score of care needs by level of care dependency (N=200)

Characteristics	All, N=200 Mean (SD)	High dependency (15–44), n=47 Mean (SD)	Medium dependency (45–59), n=54 Mean (SD)	Low dependency (60–75), n=99 Mean (SD)
Eating and drinking (1–5)	3.96±1.3	2.36±1.1	3.79±0.9	4.80±0.5
Continence (1–5)	3.91±1.4	2.14±0.9	3.88±1.0	4.76±0.6
Body posture (1–5)	3.80±1.1	2.59±1.2	3.61±0.9	4.48±0.5
Mobility (1–5)	3.33±1.4	1.85±1.1	2.94±1.0	4.25±0.8
Day/night pattern (1–5)	3.83±1.2	2.68±1.1	3.66±1.0	4.47±0.8
Getting dressed and undressed (1–5)	3.83±1.3	1.93±0.8	3.75±0.8	4.77±0.5
Body temperature (1–5)	3.95±1.1	2.46±0.8	3.75±0.9	4.76±0.4
Hygiene (1–5)	3.69±1.3	1.78±1.1	3.51±0.8	4.68±0.5
Avoidance of danger (1–5)	3.58±1.3	1.95±1.0	3.31±0.8	4.50±0.6
Communications (1–5)	4.47±0.8	3.46±1.1	4.50±0.6	4.93±0.2
Contact with others (1–5)	3.83±1.2	2.36±1.1	3.66±1.0	4.62±0.6
Sense of rules and values (1–5)	4.30±1.0	3.08±0.7	4.29±0.9	4.87±0.3
Daily activities (1–5)	3.35±1.3	1.59±0.4	3.24±0.8	4.24±0.9
Recreational activities (1–5)	2.54±1.5	1.14±0.4	1.62±0.9	3.69±1.3
Learning activities (1–5)	2.91±1.2	1.78±0.9	2.61±0.9	3.61±0.9

Table 3 Characteristics of geriatric patients (N=200) by two age groups

Characteristics	All, N=200	Younger ≤82 years n=98	Older >83 years n=102	p-values
Sum score test CDS, ±SD	55.3±15.1	58.0±14.9	52.7±14.9	0.005
Mean age, in years, mean±SD	81.8±6.6	76.4±4.7	87±2.9
Female, %	69.0	74.5	63.7	0.099
Married, %	35.0	33.0	37.0	0.680
Living alone, yes	38.0	36.0	39.0	0.693
Subjective well-being
Feeling loneliness, %
Never	30.0	27.5	32.4	0.757
Sometimes	55.0	57.2	52.9
Often	15.0	15.3	14.7
Self-rated health, %
Significantly better	5.0	5.0	5.0	0.388
Moderately better	37.5	32.7	42.1
Moderately worse	41.0	41.8	40.2
Significantly worse	16.5	20.5	12.7
GDS, mean±SD (0–15)	6.0±3.7	5.9±3.8	6.1±3.7	0.763
Objective measures or states
Barthel Index, mean±SD (0–100)	77.0±26.7	80.1±26.6	74.0±26.6	0.031
I-ADL, mean±SD (0–12)	6.4±3.8	7.3±3.9	5.6±3.5	0.001
Norton scale, mean±SD (0–20)	16.6±3.0	17.0±3.0	16.1±3.0	0.018
AMTS, mean±SD (0–10)	6.4±2.8	7.0±2.6	5.8±2.9	0.001
Tinetti fall risk test, %	59.0	50.1	67.7	0.039
Problem with locomotion (yes), %	69.0	61.2	76.5	0.002
Problem with vision (yes), %	40.0	38.7	41.2	0.725
Problem with hearing (yes), %	43.0	31.6	53.9	0.004

Abbreviations: AMTS, Abbreviated Mental Test Scoring; CDS, Care Dependency Scale; GDS, Geriatric Depression Scale; I-ADL, instrumental activities of daily living.

Table 4 Spearman’s correlation between CDS and characteristics

Characteristics	CDS
	R	p-value
Age	−0.251	0.001
Barthel	0.792	<0.001
I-ADL	0.774	<0.001
Norton	0.726	<0.001
GDS	−0.332	<0.001
AMTS	0.357	<0.001
Tinetti	0.637	<0.001
Problem with locomotion	−0.714	<0.001
Problem with vision	−0.280	<0.001
Problem with hearing	−0.215	0.002

Abbreviations: AMTS, Abbreviated Mental Test Scoring; CDS, Care Dependency Scale; GDS, Geriatric Depression Scale; I-ADL, instrumental activities of daily living.