Hospitalization cost and its determinants among elderly inpatients in Shandong province:a path analysis

Objective To investigate hospitalization cost and its related factors among elderly inpatients covered by medical insurance in Shandong province and to provide a basis to reduce the economic burden of the elderly inpatients.Methods Information on 1 184 elderly inpatients aged 60 years or above and covered by medical insurance were extracted from the dataset of Shandong province of Fifth National Health Service Survey conducted in 2013.SPSS 17.0 was used in statistical description,cluster analysis,chi-square test,and correlation analysis.Amos 21.0 was used to carry out path analysis.Results The average cost of per hospitalization for the elderly inpatients surveyed was 10 993.78 yuan(RMB),with a median of 5 000 yuan and an average stay of 13.77 days.Cluster analysis results showed that the proportions of the elderly inpatients with higher,medium,and lower hospitalization cost were 20.8%,50.9%,28.3%,respectively.The results of path analysis showed that hospitalization days,the degree of the hospital,whether having an operation during the hospitalization were the main influencing factors of hospitalization expenses,with the path coefficients of 0.435,0.374,and-0.271;the degree of the hospital,residential area and marital status of the inpatients were indirect influencing factors of hospitalization cost with the indirect path coefficients of 0.035,0.035,and 0.028,respectively.Conclusion Many factors influence hospitalization cost and comprehensive measures should be taken to control the increase of hospitalization cost among elderly inpatients in Shandong province.