Incidence of short-term community hospital stays and clinical profiles of patients: the Finnish Community Hospital Cohort Study

Figures & data

Table 1. Hospital stays and in-patient days by age groups in special level and community hospitals in Finland in 2016.

	Hospitalization	Secondary or tertiary care hospitals	Community hospitals	Community hospitals’ share (%) of total
All age groups
	Stays per 1000 persons	154	70.3	31.4
	In-patient days per 1000 persons	553	872	61.2
Among population aged ≥75 years
	Stays per 1000 persons aged ≥75 years	412	435	51.4
	In-patient days per 1000 persons aged ≥75 years	1668	6129	78.6

Table 2. Characteristics of patients in short-term stays of community hospital.

	Women N = 7363	Men N = 6119	ALL N = 13,482
Age, mean (SD)	80 (13)	74 (14)	77 (14)
<65	833 (11)	1299 (21)	2132 (16)
65–74	986 (13)	1310 (21)	2296 (17)
75–84	2476 (34)	2021 (33)	4497 (33)
≥85	3068 (42)	1489 (24)	4557 (34)
Urban, n (%)	2286 (31)	1687 (28)	3973 (29)
Length of stay, median (IQR)	4 (2.8)	4 (2.7)	4 (2.8)
Where coming from, n (%)
Secondary or tertiary care hospital	1617 (22)	1471 (24)	3088 (23)
Out-of-hours service/emergency	2389 (32)	1868 (31)	4257 (32)
Health center/primary care	3357 (46)	2780 (45)	6137 (46)
Discharge
Home	6151 (84)	5031 (83)	11,182 (83)
Secondary or tertiary care hospital	510 (7)	477 (8)	987 (7)
Another community hospital	237 (3)	136 (2)	373 (3)
Residential care facility	137 (2)	134 (2)	271 (2)
Death	294 (4)	313 (5)	607 (5)

Table 3. Incidence rates of community hospital short-term stays per 1000 person years.

ICD-10 diagnostic chapters^a	Incidence rates among residents aged <75 years (95% confidence interval)			Incidence rates among residents aged ≥75 years (95% confidence interval)
	Women	Men	IRR^ƚ	Women	Men	IRR^ƚ
AB	1.7 (1.6–1.9)	2.5 (2.3–2.7)	1.43 (1.29–1.61)	25.4 (24.0–26.8)	21.1 (19.6–22.8)	0.83 (0.76–0.91)
C	1.2 (1.1–1.3)	1.8 (1.6–1.9)	1.49 (1.61–1.71)	11.6 (10.7–12.6)	20.2 (18.7–21.8)	1.74 (1.56–1.94)
D	0.4 (0.3–0.5)	0.3 (0.3–0.4)	0.90 (0.68–1.17)	7.7 (7.0–8.5)	8.0 (7.0–9.0)	1.03 (0.88–1.21)
E	0.6 (0.5–0.7)	0.7 (0.6–0.8)	1.21(0.99–1.49)	9.5 (8.7–10.3)	6.6 (5.7–7.5)	0.69 (0.59–0.81)
F	3.1 (2.9–3.3)	7.2 (6.9–7.5)	2.29 (2.12–2.47)	21.8 (20.5–23.1)	29.8 (28.0–31.8)	1.37 (1.26–1.49)
G	1.6 (1.4–1.7)	1.6 (1.5–1.8)	1.04 (0.91–1.76)	17.9 (16.7–19.1)	26.9 (25.1–28.7)	1.50 (1.37–1.65)
I	2.2 (2.0–2.4)	3.2 (3.0–3.4)	1.47 (1.33–1.63)	84.9 (82.4–87.4)	77.7 (74.7–80.8)	0.92 (0.87–0.96)
J	3.4 (3.2–3.7)	5.0 (4.8–5.3)	1.46 (1.35–1.59)	59.3 (57.2–61.4)	79.0 (76.0–82.1)	1.33 (1.27–1.40)
K	1.1 (1.0–1.2)	1.9 (1.7–2.1)	1.69 (1.48–1.94)	17.3 (16.2–18.5)	17.4 (16.0–18.9)	1.00 (0.90–1.11)
M	2.2 (2.0–2.4)	1.7 (1.6–1.9)	0.78 (0.70–0.88)	30.3 (28.9–31.9)	14.4 (13.1–15.8)	0.47 (0.43–0.53)
N	1.2 (1.1–1.4)	1.3 (1.2–1.4)	1.04 (0.91–1.20)	33.0 (31.5–34.6)	21.5 (20.0–23.2)	0.65 (0.60–0.71)
R	1.6 (1.4–1.7	1.9 (1.7–2.1)	1.20 (1.06–1.35)	39.5 (37.8–41.2)	39.5 (37.4–41.7)	1.00 (0.93–1.07)
ST	2.2 (2.1–2.4)	2.6 (2.4–2.8)	1.15 (1.04–1.27)	47.3 (45.4–49.2)	32.1 (30.2–34.1)	0.68 (0.63–0.73)
Other	1.1 (1.0–1.2)	1.6 (1.4–1.7)	1.42 (1.24–1.64)	17.1 (16.0–18.3)	19.3 (17.8–20.8)	1.12 (1.01–1.24)
ALL	23.7 (23.2–24.3)	33.4 (32.7–34.0)	1.41 (1.36–1.45)	422 (417–428)	413 (406–420)	0.98 (0.96–1.00)

^a AB: certain infectious and parasitic diseases; C: neoplasms; D: in situ and benign neoplasms, neoplasms of uncertain or unknown behavior, diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs and certain disorders involving the immune mechanism; E: endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases; F: mental and behavioral disorders; G: diseases of the nervous system; I: diseases of the circulatory system; J: diseases of the respiratory system; K: diseases of the digestive system; M: diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue; N: diseases of the genitourinary system; R: symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified; ST: injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes; Other: H: diseases of the eye, adnexa, ear and mastoid process; L: diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue; O: pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium; P: certain conditions originating in the perinatal period; Q: congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities; Z: factors influencing health status and contact with health services; U: codes for special purpose.

Incidence rates along with their respective 95% confidence intervals (CI), which are presented within parentheses.

Figure 1. Proportions of hospital stays by diagnostic chapters. Proportions of community hospital short-term stays by ICD-10 diagnostic chapters*. 95% confidence intervals are marked to the sides of the squares. *I: diseases of the circulatory system; J: diseases of the respiratory system; F: mental and behavioral disorders; ST: injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes; R: symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified; AB: certain infectious and parasitic diseases; M: diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue; N: diseases of the genitourinary system; G: diseases of the nervous system; K: diseases of the digestive system; C: neoplasms; E: endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases; D: in situ and benign neoplasms, neoplasms of uncertain or unknown behavior, diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs and certain disorders involving the immune mechanism.

Figure 2. The incidence rates of short-term community hospital stays per 1000 person-years by age in all and in most common diagnostic chapters circulatory (I) and respiratory diseases (J), injuries (ST) and mental and behavioral diseases (F). The graphs were derived from a 4-knot restricted cubic splines Poisson regression models. The 95% confidence intervals are illustrated with gray color. pyrs: person years; ICD-10 chapters: I: diseases of the circulatory system; J: diseases of the respiratory system; F: mental and behavioral disorders; ST: injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes.