Individual and Hospital Factors Associated With Hospitalization for Chronic Medical Conditions

Abstract

This study identified individual and hospital characteristics significantly associated with U.S. hospital admissions for chronic medical conditions (i.e., asthma, hypertension, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabetes) and assessed whether the results based on hospital admissions for chronic medical conditions were consistent with analysis based on hospital admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSC). Data for this study were from the 1994 U.S. National Hospital Discharge Survey. Bivariate statistical comparisons were performed to test the differences between hospitalized individuals with chronic medical conditions and those without. Logistic regression followed to determine the significance of independent variables in relation to hospitalizations for chronic medical conditions. The logistic regression results of using hospital admissions for chronic medical conditions as the dependent variable and using hospital admissions for ACSC as the dependent variable was compared to examine the level of congruence for the two models using different dependent measures. Individual and hospital characteristics significantly associated with hospital admissions for chronic medical conditions (objective 1) included age, gender, race, marital status (individual predisposing factors), principal and secondary sources of payment (individual enabling factors), length of stay (individual need factor), and number of hospital beds and geographic region (system factors). The results of analyses based on hospital admissions for chronic medical conditions were consistent with analysis based on hospital admissions for ACSC (objective 2). Hospital admissions for chronic medical conditions can serve as an efficient way of identifying subpopulations facing access barriers.