According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which has analysed data from the Hospital Cost and Utilization project , senior health conditions accounted for 9 out of the 10 most frequent, fastest growing conditions leading to hospitalization in 2011. While seniors may not account for most of the conditions listed, they are common among this age group.
.According to AHRQ’s Statistical Brief #162, the most frequent diagnoses in 2011 were:
- Liveborn (newborn infant) —123 stays per 10,000 population
- Pneumonia — 36 stays per 10,000 population
- Septicemia — 35 stays per 10,000 population
- Congestive heart failure (nonhypertensive) — 31 stays per 10,000 population
- Osteoarthritis — 31 stays per 10,000 population
- Mood disorders — 29 stays per 10,000 population.
- Cardiac dysrhythmias — 26 stays per 10,000 population
- Chronic obstructive pulmonarydisease and bronchiectasis — 23 stays per 10,000 population
- Complication of device, implant, or graft — 22 stays per 10,000 population
- Spondylosis, intervertebral disc disorders and other back problems — 21 per 10,000 population.
Particularly alarming is the increase in some condition between1997 and 2011.
- Acute and unspecified renal failure — 346 percent increase (from 4 to 16 stays per 10,000 population)
- Septicemia — 132 percent increase (from 15 to 35 stays per 10,000 population)
- Pulmonary Heart Disease — 118 percent increase (from 3 to 6 stays per 10,000 population
- Osteoarthritis — 102 percent increase (from 15 to 31 stays per 10,000 population)
- Anemia — 100 percent increase (from 4 to 7 stays per 10,000 population)
- Respiratory failure, insufficiency or arrest — 78 percent increase (from 7 to 13 stays per 10,000 population)
- Skin and subcutaneous tissue infections — 73 percent increase (from 12 to 21 stays per 10,000 population)
For comparison, the average percentage change for all principle diagnoses between 1997 and 2011 was a 3 percent decrease.
By Richard Ueberfluss, Physical Therapist
