Characteristics of long-term care facilities in British Columbia by presence of a COVID-19 outbreak between Mar. 1, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2021
| Characteristic | No. (%) of facilities* | p value† | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All facilities n = 293 | Facilities with outbreaks n = 80 | Facilities with no outbreaks n = 213 | ||
| Total beds | 29 095 | 9919 | 19 176 | |
| Ownership characteristics‡ | ||||
| For-profit | 105 (35.8) | 37 (46.3) | 68 (31.9) | 0.003 |
| Nonprofit | 82 (28.0) | 25 (31.3) | 57 (26.8) | 0.029 |
| Health authority | 106 (36.2) | 18 (22.5) | 88 (41.3) | Ref. |
| Community characteristics | ||||
| Facility-weighted COVID-19 community incidence (infections per 100 000 population),§¶ median (IQR) | 4.14 (2.52–6.75) | 6.75 (4.14–6.75) | 2.52 (0.76–4.14) | < 0.0001 |
| Staffing characteristics | ||||
| Staffing hours** | ||||
| Total nursing or care aide hours, mean ± SD | 2.98 ± 0.35 | 2.90 ± 0.20 | 3.01 ± 0.39 | 0.003 |
| Total allied health hours, mean ± SD | 0.32 ± 0.10 | 0.32 ± 0.07 | 0.32 ± 0.11 | 0.691 |
| Missing | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Subcontracted services | ||||
| Professional nursing services | 69 (23.6) | 27 (33.8) | 42 (19.7) | 0.012 |
| Nonregulated services (care aides) | 69 (23.6) | 26 (32.5) | 43 (20.2) | 0.027 |
| Any food services | 109 (37.8) | 38 (48.1) | 71 (34.0) | 0.027 |
| Missing | 5 | 1 | 4 | |
| Facility characteristics | ||||
| Age of facility, yr, mean ± SD | 30.3 ± 16.3 | 31.3 ± 15.9 | 29.9 ± 16.4 | 0.494 |
| Beds per facility, mean ± SD | 99.3 ± 56.1 | 124.0 ± 56.9 | 90.0 ± 53.0 | < 0.0001 |
| Facilities with beds in shared rooms | 174 (59.4) | 58 (72.5) | 116 (54.5) | 0.005 |
| Large proportion of beds in shared rooms†† (v. small or none) | 88 (30.0) | 30 (37.5) | 58 (27.2) | 0.088 |
| Resident characteristics | ||||
| Facility-weighted age of population,§ yr, mean ± SD | 83.8 ± 32.5 | 84.2 ± 26.6 | 83.6 ± 34.4 | 0.139 |
| Missing | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| Facility-weighted proportion of male residents,§ median (IQR) | 0.35 (0.29–0.41) | 0.35 (0.29–0.42) | 0.35 (0.30–0.40) | 0.613 |
| Missing | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| Facility-weighted case mix index,§ mean ± SD | 0.58 ± 0.38 | 0.58 ± 0.35 | 0.58 ± 0.39 | 0.543 |
| Missing | 4 | 1 | 3 | |
Note: IQR = interquartile range, Ref. = reference category, SD = standard deviation.
↵* Unless indicated otherwise.
↵† Tests of comparison include the Welch t-test and Mann–Whitney U test for continuous variables, and the χ2 test for categorical variables.
↵‡ For-profit facilities include those owned and operated by for-profit corporations. Nonprofit facilities include those owned and operated by independent (nongovernment) nonprofit societies. Health authority facilities include those owned and operated by the provincial health authorities in British Columbia.
↵§ Variable is weighted by size of facility.
↵¶ Average daily incidence (Mar. 1, 2020, to Jan. 31, 2021) calculated from laboratory-diagnosed or episode-linked case tallies by health authority in BC.
↵** Nursing or care aide hours includes registered nurse hours, licensed practical nurse hours and care aide hours (average number of hours for entire facility, not how many hours each resident receives). Allied health includes physical, occupational, recreation, speech and language therapies, as well as social work services and dietitians.
↵†† Large proportion of beds in shared rooms = greater than 20% of total beds are in shared rooms.