title: Temporal Trends and Rural-Urban Differences in Hospital Length of Stay for Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess rural-urban differences and temporal trends in length of inpatient stay among patients diagnosed with Alzheimer disease and related dementia (ADRD).
  
  
  METHODS
  The study sample comprised 27,313 ADRD and 27,313 matched non-ADRD inpatient discharges from Nebraska hospitals from 2005 to 2011. Descriptive statistics and multivariable regression models were used to assess rural-urban variations and temporal trends in length of stay (LOS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  LOS was found to be similar for ADRD and non-ADRD-related hospitalizations. No rural-urban differences in LOS were observed for ADRD-related hospitalizations. However, there was a temporal decline in LOS for ADRD-related hospitalizations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  LOS for ADRD-related hospitalizations was found to be influenced mostly by patient-level demographic and clinical factors. Hospital-level factors were not associated with LOS.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Health Policy and Management, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA †Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Community Health Sciences, Las Vegas, NV.
authors.forename: Samuel T Y
authors.initials: STY
authors.lastname: Opoku
authors.forename: Bettye A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Apenteng
authors.forename: Ge
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D001131:Arkansas / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000639:trends*; D008297:Male; D012424:Rural Population / Q000639:trends*; D013997:Time Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000639:trends*