Posted Apr 6, 2023, 8:23 AMUpdated on Apr 6, 2023 at 8:26 am
Are hospitalizations, costly for the health system and for patients, all justified? Many are those which could be avoided, advance, this Thursday, the Direction of research, studies, evaluation and statistics (Drees). According to the latter, one in 40 hospitalizations could be avoided by improving patient monitoring in the city. Because people at risk are often identified.
In detail, “in 2017, 265,000 hospitalizations for chronic pathologies could have been avoided”. Nearly half were due to heart failure. Dehydration (11%), angina pectoris (8%) and asthma attacks (6%) are also among the reasons mentioned.
The elderly
The profile of the people concerned by the “HPE”, potentially avoidable hospitalizations, is drawn up by the DREES. Four in five are 65 or older, and one in three are 85 or older. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that certain chronic pathologies affect older people more.
The same patients are often affected several times, says the DREES. Thus, in 2017, 26% of the people concerned “had already experienced an event of this type during the previous five years” and 14% experienced several preventable hospitalizations over a year. In the majority of cases, the pattern is the same from time to time.
Several other criteria favoring avoidable hospitalization are highlighted by the study. Among people aged 65 to 84, men have a 64% higher risk than women of having HPE.
The role of educational level
The fact of living alone is also a factor put forward. “This result could be explained by greater attention paid to one’s health when living as a couple or by an incentive for medical monitoring on the part of the spouse”, notes the DREES. Consulting your doctor between once and twice a year divides the risk by five and a half, compared to not having consulted him during the year.
The risk of HPE also decreases with the level of diploma, notes the DREES. Thus, people “without a diploma or with only a primary school certificate have a 25% higher risk of being hospitalized in an avoidable way”.
According to the study, workers and farmers are the most exposed socio-professional categories. Their working conditions and exposure to hardship factors, “could influence their state of health and therefore the probability of having HPE”, develops the Drees.