Characteristics of HIV-infected adults in acute care hospitals in New York State, 1984-1986

The New York State acute care, hospital discharge database was used to create a longitudinal case history file for all adult inpatients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). From 1984 through 1986, 12,958 individuals with HIV-related diseases were treated in acute care hospitals throughout the state. Approximately 80% of those people resided in New York City, and nearly half of them were between ages 30 and 39 years. Over the three-year period, the proportion of females increased from 11.8% to 16.6%. The per diem charge increased slightly, although the total length of stay for the first year of HIV illness declined sufficiently to decrease the total charge for the year. Examination of the pattern of inpatient stays and intercurrent days shows the first and last hospital stays to be longer than those in between, although the days between stays decreased as the number of admissions increased. The hospital stay in which a patient died was typically of longer duration than earlier stays. The average charge for HIV-related hospital care among inpatients during their first year of illness was approximately $20,000.