The impact of relocation stress on cognitively impaired and cognitively unimpaired long-term care residents

Abstract

Objectives: The current aims were to explore the effects of relocation stress on depression and anxiety in long-term care residents and to investigate the moderating effect of cognitive status.

Methods: The study used existing data from nursing home and congregate apartment residents. Self-reported measures of relocation stress, cognitive status, depression, and anxiety were examined. Exploratory analyses examined group differences in depression and anxiety within the full sample (n = 568) and the sample of first-year residents (n = 347). Main analyses were conducted in a subsample of 107 first-year residents who completed the measure of relocation stress.

Results: Residents who had moved in the past year reported more anxiety but not depression than longer-term residents. Relocation stress significantly predicted depression but not anxiety in the subsample of first-year residents. There was no significant effect of cognitive status or the interaction of cognitive status and relocation stress on depression and anxiety.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that cognitively impaired older adults are no more vulnerable to the negative effects of relocation stress than cognitively unimpaired older adults. Relocation stress should be regarded as a risk factor for depression in long-term care residents, regardless of cognitive status, in the first year after relocation.

Keywords:

• Relocation
• dementia and cognitive disorders
• institutional care
• depression
• anxiety

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health under Grant R01-MH49846.