Hospital admissions for XXXX in New Zealand.

@entity1 @entity1030
AIM: To determine the number, distribution and cost of hospital admissions for @entity1030 ( @entity1030 ) in New Zealand. METHODS: National @entity1 -level routine data on admissions with a principal diagnosis of @entity1030 (mostly ICD-10- AN J440 and J441) were obtained for the period July 1st 2008 to June 30th 2013. Admissions with length of stay (LOS) = 90 days were excluded. RESULTS: There were 61,516 admissions in 5 years. Admission rates and budget impact (in 2012/13 dollar values) were stable but the average length of stay (ALOS) declined from 5.09 to 4.37 days. In FY2012/13 the admission rate was 2.82 per 1000 population, with age standardised rate (ASR) 4.4- and 3.6-fold higher for Maori and Pacific @entity1 respectively than for European/others. For age = 15 years the ASR was 2.55 per 1000. Admission rates were higher for @entity1 than @entity1 and increased steeply with age and socioeconomic deprivation (NZDep06). The mean age at discharge was lower for Maori and Pacific @entity1 than for European/Others (63.4, 67.1 and 72.3 years). The mean 30-day readmission rate was 6.7%. The average LOS increased with age and was shorter for Maori (3.6 days) and Pacific @entity1 (3.5 days) than for European/Others (4.7 days). Admission rates varied widely across District Health Boards, and were higher in rural than urban regions. The estimated cost of admissions in FY2012/13 was  NZ59.6m. CONCLUSIONS: Hospital admissions for @entity1030 are costly and are over-represented in high risk groups including rural, elderly, socioeconomically deprived and Maori and Pacific @entity1 . Effective interventions that are targeted to high risk groups are required to improve equity and reduce the burden of @entity1030 .
