Churning: The Association between Health Care Transitions and Feeding Tube Insertion for Nursing Home Residents with Advanced Cognitive Impairment

Journal of Palliative Medicine
Teno JM, Mitchell SL, Skinner JS, Kuo S, Fisher ES, Intrator O, Rhodes R, Mor V

There is a tenfold variation across U.S. states in the prevalence of feeding tube use among elderly nursing home residents (NHR) with advanced cognitive impairment. The goal of this study was to examine whether regions with higher rates of health care transitions at the end of life are more likely to use feeding tubes in patients with severe cognitive impairment.