Utilization of inpatient health care and its influence factors among the elderly over 60 years old in Henan province

Objective To examine inpatient health care utilization and its influencing factors among the people over 60 years old in Henan province and provide references for the development of health service.Methods Totally 6 866 residents over 60 years old in 18 administrative regions were selected with stratified multi-stage cluster sampling and surveyed face-to-face with a questionnaire in 2013.Results Among all the elderly surveyed,the hospitalization rate in 2012 was 17.38%(1 193/6 866)and there were no significant differences between the urban and rural areas(18.06%464/2 569vs.16.97%553/3 228)and between the males and the females(17.13%553/3 228)vs.17.59%640/3 638) in the hospitalization rate(all P>0.05).Of the elderly requiring inpatient health care during the year,23.08%(358/1 551)were not hospitalized and the proportion was not significantly different between the urban and rural areas(25.64%160/624vs.21.36%198/927)(P>0.05).Of the elderly patients hospitalized during the year,25.31%were admitted to township-level hospitals,48.70% to county-level,22.46% to municipal-level,and 2.68% to provincial-level hospitals,respectively.The first four diseases related to the hospitalizations of the elderly patients were cerebrovascular disease(19.28%),hypertension(11.06%),ischemic heart disease(6.45%),and other types of heart disease(6.12%).Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that the factors influencing the hospitalization among the elderly were residential area,age,gender,occupation,and whether suffering from chronic disease.Conclusion Chronic disease status and occupation are important influencing factors of inpatient health care utilization among the elderly over 60 years old in Henan province and chronic disease control and occupation health promotion among the population should be concerned.