Press Release 27/03/2023
HOSPITAL DISCHARGE STATISTICS. 2021
In 2021, 83% of hospital admissions in the Basque Country were treated in public hospitals, while in Spain the average figure stood at 72.4%
The Basque Country registered a rate of 10,679 hospitalisations per 100,000 inhabitants, placing it above the national average (9,536)
Hospitals in the Basque Country recorded a total of 233,853 admissions in 2021, up 5.1% on the previous year, according to Eustat data, which represented 5.2% of the total for Spain as a whole. This rise occurred after the number of hospital admissions fell by 10.1% in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19.
83% of cases were treated in public hospitals, almost eleven percentage points more than in Spain as a whole (72.4%) and ahead of autonomous regions such as Catalonia (51.1%), the Balearic Islands (64.1%), Madrid (65.4%) and the Canary Islands (71%), which had lower public care figures than the Spanish average.
The Basque Country registered a rate of 10,679 hospitalisations per 100,000 inhabitants, placing it above the national average (9,536) and among the autonomous regions with the highest hospitalisation rates, after Catalonia (11,048), Aragón (10,978) and Asturias (10,764).
By sex, the proportion of men (50.7%) was slightly higher than that of women (49.3%), whilst nationally it was higher for women (51.7%). If pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal cases were not taken into account, the percentage of women would drop to 45.8% in the Basque Country (47.3% in Spain). Ageing-related changes meant that more than half of those admitted to hospital (51.1%) were aged 65 and over (46.5% in Spain).
As in Spain as a whole, the main causes of hospital admissions were circulatory and digestive diseases, which accounted for 25.8% of hospitalisations (25.2% in Spain), followed by tumours, and trauma and injuries in third and fourth place, with percentages above 9%. On the other hand, the greatest differences were found in the group of hospital stays associated with pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal care, which, being the fifth most common cause of hospital admissions in Spain (8.3%), occupied eighth place in the Basque Country (6.6%), behind respiratory diseases, diseases of the musculoskeletal system and diseases of the genitourinary system.
5.3% of hospitalisations in the Basque Country were due to COVID-19, as was the case in Spain as a whole
COVID-19 was the main cause of a total of 12,394 admissions to Basque hospitals, which accounted for 5.3% of hospitalisations in the Basque Country in 2021, the same percentage as in Spain. Furthermore, the total number of days that people were hospitalised as a result of this cause stood at 123,389, which represented an average length of stay of nearly 10 days (11.9 days in Spain as a whole).
58.1% of admissions due to COVID-19 corresponded to men and 41.9% to women (57.6% and 42.4% in Spain). By age group, the highest percentage of these cases was in the 65-84 age group (36.1%), followed by the 45-64 age range (34.4%), those aged 85 and over (15%) and 25-44 year olds (12.4%).
According to the overall care figures, 94.6% of admissions were in acute care hospitals (221,264 admissions), 4.1% in medium and long-stay hospitals (9,566) and 1.3% (3,023) in psychiatric hospitals.
Hospitalizations in hospitals in the Basque Country for groups of the most frequent diseases, according to care purpose. 2021
| | Total | Acute | Medium-long Stay | Psychiatrists |
| | Number | % | (%) ## | (%) ## | (%) ## |
| LARGE DIAGNOSTIC GROUPS | | | | | |
| Total | 233.853 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Circulatory system | 31.016 | 13,3 | 13,1 | 19,7 | 2,9 |
| Digestive system | 29.131 | 12,5 | 13,1 | 2,6 | - |
| Tumors | 21.953 | 9,4 | 9,5 | 8,7 | 0,0 |
| Trauma and injuries | 21.614 | 9,2 | 9,5 | 5,1 | 1,0 |
| Respiratory system | 18.957 | 8,1 | 7,9 | 15,2 | 0,0 |
| Musculoskeletal system | 18.440 | 7,9 | 8,2 | 2,7 | 0,0 |
| Genitourinary System | 16.556 | 7,1 | 7,2 | 6,4 | - |
| Pregnancy, birth and puerperium | 15.436 | 6,6 | 7,0 | - | - |
| Special Purpose Codes (COVID-19) | 12.394 | 5,3 | 5,1 | 8,8 | 10,2 |
| Abnormal clinical symptoms and findings | 11.043 | 4,7 | 4,9 | 2,4 | 0,4 |
| Mental and behavioural disorders | 7.511 | 3,2 | 2,2 | 1,0 | 84,1 |
| Illnesses of the nervous system | 5.606 | 2,4 | 2,3 | 4,4 | 1,4 |
| Factors influencing health status and Contact with health services | 5.514 | 2,4 | 1,8 | 16,2 | - |
The percentage has been calculated on the total number of hospitalizations
ICD -10 : International Classification of Diseases, 10th version
Date March 27, 2023
Source: Eustat. Hospital discharge statistic
The pattern in medium and long-stay and psychiatric hospitals, with 5.4% of admissions, was different to that of acute care hospitals, in terms of both the pathologies treated and the length of stay in hospital.
In medium and long-stay hospitals, the majority of admissions (51.1%) were due to diseases of the circulatory system (19.7%), contact with health services for aftercare, postoperative, palliative or other care (16.2%) and diseases of the respiratory system (15.2%). The average length of stay was 19 days. In the case of psychiatric hospitals, schizophrenia was the most diagnosed pathology.
Methodological note
This statistical operation has been carried out in collaboration with the National Institute of Statistics-INE.
For reasons of comparability with Spanish and international statistics, the hospital admissions mode only takes into account admissions with a stay equal to or greater than 1 day, that is, admissions with 0 days are not counted. The length of stay is calculated as the number of days between the date of admission and the date of discharge, without taking into account the time of admission or discharge.
The hospitalisation rate per 100,000 inhabitants in the Basque Country was calculated using the population on 01/07/2021.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel.: 945 01 75 62