Association of Nursing Home Residents' Demographic and Clinical Attributes and Nursing Home Characteristics With Self-Reported Ratings of Nursing Home Satisfaction.

The study looked for associations at one time point, so it cannot show that any factor caused higher or lower satisfaction. Residents answered only four overall satisfaction questions, so the score may not capture all parts of satisfaction. The satisfaction rating came from residents themselves, which can introduce response bias. The sample was mostly Caucasian or African American, so results may not apply to other racial or ethnic groups. Eligibility required English speech, medical stability, and at least 13 of 30 on the Mini Mental State Examination, so the findings may not apply to residents who could not meet these requirements. The nursing home staffing measure came from an overall star-rating ratio and did not distinguish RN, licensed practical nurse, or certified nursing assistant hours. Some facility variables were too highly correlated to test together, so the model had to be re-run with fewer variables. The data were collected for a questionnaire reliability and stability study, not specifically to test satisfaction associations.

The authors disclosed no potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise. The article is classified as research supported by NIH extramural funding.

Do not conclude that adding staff or changing ownership would raise or lower satisfaction. This paper only compared residents’ satisfaction ratings with facility characteristics at one time, and staffing was measured as a single overall ratio rather than by staff type.