Hospital admissions in Israel--1957-1980: a retrospective study

Standardized admission ratios (SAR) among the total and the aged populations in Israel from 1957 to 1980 were studied in relation to a variety of explanatory variables that were classified into factors of structure, utilization, and patient socioeconomic indices. Because of a strong time correlation, residuals of the correlation between each variable and time were analyzed. The analysis revealed that the technological factor, the rate of physician-patient contacts, and the percentage of urban population proved to be the strongest variables accounting for hospitalization among the total population. Residence in a single-person household emerged as the major explanatory variable for hospitalization of the aged population.