There are significant regional differences in the quality of care in nursing homes. These include, for example, long-term medication with sleeping pills and sedatives, as well as ophthalmologic screening for diabetes, according to an evaluation published in Berlin on Monday by the scientific institute of the AOK health insurance company.
The long-term prescription of sedatives and sleeping pills for nursing home residents is a "persistent nationwide problem." Drugs such as benzodiazepines have sleep-inducing, calming, and anxiolytic effects, but only in the short term, the institute explained. If they were administered long-term, there would be a risk of addiction, an increased risk of falls, anxiety, and depression.
In Germany, a total of 7.14 percent of people in nursing homes would have received a long-term prescription for benzodiazepines, benzodiazepine derivatives, and Z-drugs in 2023. This was a slight decrease from 7.33 percent in 2022. High-risk long-term prescriptions are significantly more common in the west than in the east, it was reported. The proportion was particularly high in Saarland in 2023, at 15.88 percent. Saxony-Anhalt had the lowest rate of 2.9 percent.
The analysis also revealed deficits in the care of residents with diabetes. More than 79 percent of them would not have received any preventive eye care by 2023. According to the data, there was a slight south-north gradient here. More than a third of all districts in Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Bavaria were among the most conspicuous districts. The situation was better in Berlin, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Schleswig-Holstein.
The institute also investigated how often people were hospitalized for falls when taking certain medications. Some medications further increase the risk of falls in older and sick people, the statement said. One in six people who received such medication in a nursing home had to be hospitalized due to a fall. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the figure was just under 13 percent, compared to 18.45 percent in Rhineland-Palatinate.
The analysis for the Care Quality Atlas is based on billing data from the eleven AOK (AOK) subsidiaries, which cover approximately one-third of the German population. Data from health and long-term care insurance was included. In total, data from approximately 350,000 nursing home residents aged 60 and older were included.
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