COVID-19 in German Nursing Homes: The Impact of Facilities’ Structures on the Morbidity and Mortality of Residents—An Analysis of Two Cross-Sectional Surveys

Benedikt Preuß (), Lasse Fischer, Annika Schmidt, Kathrin Seibert, Viktoria Hoel, Dominik Domhoff, Franziska Heinze, Werner Brannath, Karin Wolf-Ostermann and Heinz Rothgang
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Benedikt Preuß: SOCIUM Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Lasse Fischer: Competence Center for Clinical Trials Bremen (KKSB), University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Annika Schmidt: Institute for Public Health and Nursing Research, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Kathrin Seibert: Institute for Public Health and Nursing Research, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Viktoria Hoel: Institute for Public Health and Nursing Research, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Dominik Domhoff: Institute for Public Health and Nursing Research, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Franziska Heinze: SOCIUM Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Werner Brannath: Competence Center for Clinical Trials Bremen (KKSB), University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Karin Wolf-Ostermann: Institute for Public Health and Nursing Research, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Heinz Rothgang: SOCIUM Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic constitutes an exceptional risk to people living and working in nursing homes (NHs). There were numerous cases and deaths among NH residents, especially at the beginning of the pandemic when no vaccines had yet been developed. Besides regional differences, individual NHs showed vast differences in the number of cases and deaths: while in some, nobody was affected, in others, many people were infected or died. We examine the relationship between facility structures and their effect on infections and deaths of NH residents and infections of staff, while considering the influence of COVID-19 prevalence among the general population on the incidence of infection in NHs. Two nationwide German surveys were conducted during the first and second pandemic waves, comprising responses from n = 1067 NHs. Different hurdle models, with an assumed Bernoulli distribution for zero density and a negative binomial distribution for the count density, were fitted. It can be shown that the probability of an outbreak, and the number of cases/deaths among residents and staff, increased with an increasing number of staff and the general spread of the virus. Therefore, reverse isolation of NH residents was an inadequate form of protection, especially at the beginning of the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; long-term care; nursing homes; mortality; nursing home structures (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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