The role of ageing in hospital utilisation

Abstract

Patient age correlates significantly with the average hospital length of stay (HLOS), regardless of illness or injury, with older-age groups having longer HLOS. This study aimed to explore this relationship with patient age individually and within the age groups when the normal ageing process begins to become phenotypically noticeable up to the age of the estimated life expectancy at birth. The objective was to adjust the prediction model using ageing-only populations and compare the results to better understand the role of ageing in hospital utilisation. A random sample of 132 discharge records from the 2010 National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) was stratified in four ageing groups (31–42, 43–54, 55–66, and 67–78). Using Pearson’s correlation and simple linear regression analyses, the results confirmed that age correlated significantly with the average HLOS, (r(132) = . 915, p < 0.01) in ageing populations. The prediction model was also statistically significant, (F(1, 132) = 82.741, p < 0.01), with an r2 of 0. 837, whereby the ageing groups explained 84 per cent of the variability of the average HLOS. The primary contribution was that patient age scored 6 per cent lower individually in the prediction model (78 per cent ) when compared with the ageing groups (84 per cent ) and 9 per cent lower when compared with the predictions in the NHDS age groups (87 per cent). While the correlation between patient age and the average HLOS remained statistically significant, the importance of this contribution is that these lower scores may support the assumption of individual differential evolutionary skill sets and speeds in the normal ageing and functional decline processes. Further examination and testing are needed to understand the reasons behind these changes in the prediction strength as to why older patients in age groups would explain a higher HLOS variability than individually.