Determinants of Aggregate Length of Hospital Stay in the Last Year of Life in Switzerland

Overview

Journal BMC Health Serv Res

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Health Services

Date 2016 Sep 3

PMID 27586660

Citations 3

Authors

Damian Hedinger

Julia Braun

Vladimir Kaplan

Matthias Bopp

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: In contrast to individual preferences, most people in developed countries die in health care institutions, with a considerable impact on health care resource use and costs. However, evidence about determinants of aggregate length of hospital stay in the last year preceding death is scant.

Methods: Nationwide individual patient data from Swiss hospital discharge statistics were linked with census and mortality records from the Swiss National Cohort. We explored determinants of aggregate length of hospital stay in the last year of life in N = 35,598 inpatients ≥65 years who deceased in 2007 or 2008.

Results: The average aggregate length of hospital stay in the last year of life was substantially longer in the German speaking region compared to the French (IRR 1.36 [95 % CI 1.32-1.40]) and Italian (IRR 1.22 [95 % CI 1.16-1.29]) speaking region of the country. Increasing age, female sex, multimorbidity, being divorced, foreign nationality, and high educational level prolonged, whereas home ownership shortened the aggregate length of hospital stay. Individuals with complementary private health insurance plans had longer stays than those with compulsory health insurance plans (IRR 1.04 [95 % CI 1.01-1.07]).

Conclusions: The aggregate length of hospital stay during the last year of life was substantially determined by regional and socio-demographic characteristics, and only partially explained by differential health conditions. Therefore, more detailed studies need to evaluate, whether these differences are based on patients' health care needs and preferences, or whether they are supply-driven.

Citing Articles

Multimorbidity and healthcare resource utilization in Switzerland: a multicentre cohort study.

Aubert C, Fankhauser N, Marques-Vidal P, Stirnemann J, Aujesky D, Limacher A BMC Health Serv Res. 2019; 19(1):708.

PMID: 31623664 PMC: 6798375. DOI: 10.1186/s12913-019-4575-2.

In-hospital mortality is associated with high NT-proBNP level.

Benmachiche M, Marques-Vidal P, Waeber G, Mean M PLoS One. 2018; 13(11):e0207118.

PMID: 30408101 PMC: 6224094. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0207118.

Bopp M, Penders Y, Hurst S, Bosshard G, Puhan M PLoS One. 2018; 13(9):e0203960.

PMID: 30235229 PMC: 6147437. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0203960.

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