Hospital utilization by older and younger patients in Canada: pre-pandemic findings

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Gerontology
• Public Health

Background:

• Post-pandemic surges in hospital utilization are occurring globally, coinciding with rapid population aging.
• Optimizing hospital efficiency is crucial, necessitating data-driven insights for health system reforms.
• Understanding patient demographics and utilization patterns is key to effective healthcare planning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare hospital utilization patterns between older adults (65+) and younger individuals (0-64) in Canada using pre-COVID-19 data.
• To identify trends in inpatient admissions and care for different age groups.
• To inform potential health system reforms and community-based service development.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of complete population-based hospital utilization data for the 2019-2020 period in Canada.
• Comparison of inpatient admission rates and hospital episode data between individuals aged 65+ and those aged 0-64.
• Examination of admission and care patterns across age demographics.

Main Results:

• Individuals aged 65+ constituted 35.7% of unique admissions and 39.8% of hospital episodes.
• Older adults represented 17.1% of the total study population (4,963,766 individuals).
• Hospitals admitted more younger individuals than older individuals, consistent with previous findings.

Conclusions:

• Hospital utilization data reveals significant involvement of older adults in inpatient services.
• Findings underscore the necessity for enhanced community-based services to manage hospitalizations effectively.
• Implementing community-based solutions can prevent avoidable hospitalizations for both younger and older populations.