Factors related to long-term stay in hospital by elderly people in a Japanese city.
The characteristics and social backgrounds of 61 elderly patients with long hospital stays and those of 179 incapacitated elderly people living at home in a Japanese city were compared. Discriminant function analysis was performed to clarify the factors associated with long-term use of hospital beds by elderly people. In addition to this analysis, the elderly patients with long hospital stays were divided into two subgroups according to the likelihood of discharge, and these subgroups were compared in the same way. The elderly patients with long hospital stays were more likely to be women, persons with low ADL, living alone and not living with a spouse or a second generation, compared with incapacitated elderly people living at home. Analysis of the subgroups of the elderly subjects with long hospital stays showed that use of a urethral catheter and not undergoing rehabilitation were the medical factors related to difficulty of discharge, while being women, of advanced age and not having their own room at home were the non-medical factors associated with long-term occupation of hospital beds.
Kuroda
K
K
Department of Public Health, Osaka University Medical School, Japan.
Tatara
K
K
Takatorige
T
T
Zhao
L
L
Shinsho
F
F
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000639:trends; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000639:trends*; D006701:Home Nursing / Q000639:trends; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000639:trends*; D008297:Male; D012931:Social Environment; D014505:Urban Population / Q000639:trends*