Press release dated 22/12/2010
Nervous system and circulatory diseases accounted for most hospital discharges in 2009
42.6% of people admitted to hospital were 65 or over, with cataracts and heart failure being the main causes for the admissions
Public and private acute care hospitals in the Basque Country registered 316,559 hospital discharges in 2009 (298 less then in 2008), according to Eustat data. 74% of the discharges were from public hospitals and 26% from private ones.
The number of patients who were discharged on the same day as they were admitted rose by 4.8% in 2009. This type of care, which represents one out of every four hospital discharges, is increasingly more common in the hospitals every year. The most common pathologies treated in this way are cataracts, varicose veins and knee injuries. Conventional hospitalisations (with hospital stays of at least 1 day) fell by 1.7% and the most frequent causes for the admissions were osteoarthritis, gallstones and heart failure.
Diseases of the nervous system and sensory organs (particularly cataracts) were the main cause of hospitalisation in 2009 and accounted for 11.9% of the total patients, followed by circulatory system diseases (11.7%). Digestive system diseases (11.3%) were in third place, followed by tumours and respiratory system diseases in fourth and fifth place respectively and both were percentages of around 9%.
The average hospital stay was 6.3 days. The longest hospital stays were in the case of mental disorders and perinatal diseases (14.3 days and 13.2 days, respectively), followed by infectious diseases and tumours (9 days). The average hospital stay fell to 4.1 day in private hospital, where osteomuscular conditions were the main reason for admission and where special mention should be made of internal injuries to the knee and osteoarthritis.
51.7% of the total people hospitalised were women, which was higher than the figure for men (48.3%) due to the number of pregnant women admitted and to give birth. The demand for hospital care increased with age: 42.6% of the people who were admitted to hospital in 2009 were aged 65 or over. The most frequent age was 46 in the case of men and 77 for women (without taking into account the admissions for pregnancies, deliveries and Puerperium).
Hospital admission and discharges varied according to the sex and age of the patient. By sex, circulatory system and digestive diseases (both with percentages closed to 14%) were the main cause for men to be admitted, followed by diseases of the respiratory system. The main causes for women to be admitted were pregnancy, deliveries and Puerperium (16%) and diseases of the nervous system and sensory organs.
Other groups of diseases that caused a higher rate of hospital admissions in certain age groups were: respiratory diseases (particularly tonsillitis/adenoids) among children aged 0 to 14; factures and injuries (knee dislocation) and digestive tract conditions (appendicitis) in men aged 15 to 44; tumours (breast tumours) and oestomuscular conditions (deforming of the big toe and knee injuries) in women aged 45 to 64 and digestive tract diseases (inguinal hernia) in men of that same age group.
Circulatory (heart failure), nervous system and sensory organ diseases (cataracts) were the main reasons for people aged 65 and over being admitted to hospital, and accounted for 36% of those patients.
For further information:
Basque Statistics Office
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Tlf:+34-945-01 75 00 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01 E-mail: eustat@eustat.es
Contact: Marta de la Torre Fernández
Tlf:+34-945-01 75 48 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01
Further press releases on Hospital Admission and Discharge Statistics
Hospital Admission and Discharge Statistics databank