Hospitalization utilization and its influencing factors among older persons in Chongqing city

ObjectiveTo investigate the factors and problems existing in the hospitalization utilization among residents aged 60 years and above in Chongqing,and to provide references for making relevant policies.MethodsTotally 2 335 qualified participants were selected by using multi-stage cluster random sampling.Univariate analysis and logistic regression were used in data analyses.ResultsThe annual hospitalization rate of the elderly residents was 10.24%(9.91%for urban residents and 10.59%for rural residents).The non-hospitalization rate was 41.28%among the elderly with diseases to be treated under hospitalization and the rate was 5.88%for the elderly with injury or poisoning(0.83%in urban area and 11.02%in rural area).The propotion of the elderly hospitalized patients getting reimbursement for the cost of hospitalization was 82.63%(76.27%in the urban and 88.98%in the rural).However,the economic burden of the hospitaliztion for the elderly with hospitalization was 29.96%of their total income and the rural elderly hospitalized patients had a significantly higher economic burden(44.56%of total income) than urban elderly patients.Multivariate analyses indicated that hospitalization utilization was influenced by age,Engel coefficient and chronic disease among the elderly.ConclusionThe disease pattern has been changed among the elderly in Chongqing and their disease burden is heavy.There are significant differences in hospitalization utilization between the urban and rural,rich and poor,older and young elderly.