Hospital admissions from residential aged care facilities to a major public hospital in South Australia (1999–2005) |
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| Authors: | Jodie B Hillen Richard L Reed Richard J Woodman Deborah Law Paul H Hakendorf Brian J Fleming |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Discipline of General Practice, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia;2. Health Services Integration, Southern Adelaide Health Service, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia;3. Clinical Epidemiology Department, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia;4. Planning, Department of Health and Ageing, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
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| Abstract: | Aim: To describe admissions patterns of residential aged care facility (RACF) residents admitted to a major public hospital. Design, setting: Retrospective longitudinal study linking hospital admissions and the Department of Health and Ageing RACF provider data from July 1999 to June 2005. Participants: All permanent residents of aged care facilities in South Australia admitted to a single public hospital. Main outcome measures: Description of primary diagnoses and trends. Results: There were 3310 admissions from 147 RACFs across South Australia. The most frequent primary diagnoses were fractured femur/pelvis, pneumonia and ischaemic heart disease. Two diagnoses increased significantly with an 11% annual increase for infections and a 5% increase for femur fractures. Conclusion: Admissions from RACFs to a major South Australian public hospital are increasing primarily because of admissions for femur fractures and infections in high care. These conditions could be targeted for interventions to reduce hospital admissions. |
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| Keywords: | aged hospital patient admission residential facility |
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