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Hospital admissions from residential aged care facilities to a major public hospital in South Australia (1999–2005)
Author(s) -
Hillen Jodie B,
Reed Richard L,
Woodman Richard J,
Law Deborah,
Hakendorf Paul H,
Fleming Brian J
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-6612.2010.00479.x
Subject(s) - medicine , public health , aged care , public hospital , emergency medicine , psychological intervention , medical diagnosis , epidemiology , retrospective cohort study , family medicine , medical emergency , gerontology , nursing , surgery , pathology
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.