Severity-adjusted differences in hospital utilization by gender.
Publication/Presentation Date
1-1-1995
Abstract
Gender-based differences in hospital use may result from biological differences or may suggest problems of access to health services and quality of care. We hypothesized that there should be no difference in hospital care between men and women, given the same diagnosis. Hospitalizations were characterized by severity of illness, as this may indicate the timeliness of hospital care. Hospitalizations may be too late (with higher severity of illness) resulting in long stays and high costs, or too early (with lower severity of illness) resulting in care that could be given in alternative treatment settings. Three abdominal conditions were examined which could be misdiagnosed or confused with other diseases involving the female reproductive system: appendicitis, diverticulitis, and cholecystitis. The National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) was used for analysis. Disease staging was used to assign a severity of illness indicator, ranging from stage 1 (conditions with no complications) to stage 3 (multiple site involvement, poor prognosis). For each disease, the percentage of discharges and the age-adjusted discharge rate per 1000 population was examined by stage of illness and gender. For appendectomy, there was a significantly greater percentage of men at stage 1 (lower severity) compared to women (73% versus 67%). For diverticular disease, women had higher proportions of stage 2/3 discharges than men for both medical and surgical hospitalizations. For cholecystitis, women had a greater percentage of hospitalizations at stage 1 than men, notably for surgical treatment (63% compared with 38%), although more men were admitted at stage 2 for both medical and surgical treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Volume
10
Issue
2
First Page
76
Last Page
80
ISSN
1062-8606
Published In/Presented At
Yuen, E. J., Gonnella, J. S., Louis, D. Z., Epstein, K. R., Howell, S. L., & Markson, L. E. (1995). Severity-adjusted differences in hospital utilization by gender. American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality, 10(2), 76–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/0885713X9501000203
Disciplines
Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods
PubMedID
7787502
Department(s)
Administration and Leadership
Document Type
Article