The Influence of Prior Functional Status on Self-Care Improvement During a Skilled Nursing Facility Stay.

The sample included only residents with a complete SNF stay, so people who died or had unplanned discharge were excluded. The MDS does not specify a time period for prior functioning, so a resident's or family's report may refer to different recent periods. Staff may receive conflicting information from residents and families, and dementia or severe cognitive impairment can make prior function reports less accurate. Residents who refused, did not attempt, or had activities not applicable were coded as dependent, which can lower self-care scores. The analysis included only Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged 66 and older, so it may not apply to younger residents or Medicare Advantage enrollees.

The paper reports no author conflicts of interest. It is listed as supported by NIH extramural research.

Do not treat the reported point differences as proof that prior function causes better self-care outcomes. This was an observational comparison of residents grouped by prior self-care, not a trial.