PMID: 11899575Mar 20, 2002Paper

Hospital statistics as tool in epidemiologic studies: heart failure in Trieste

Italian heart journal. Supplement : official journal of the Italian Federation of Cardiology
Andrea Di LenardaGianfranco Sinagra

Abstract

Since 1995, the reimbursement of hospital healthcare expenditure in Italy has been based upon the so-called Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs). The DRG 127 includes all the cases in which the main clinical diagnosis is "heart failure or shock" and, therefore, it may be used to obtain epidemiological data concerning this syndrome. The analysis appears to be of relevance, since in the district of Trieste the phenomenon of progressive aging of the general population has already reached a very advanced phase. In this study, we evaluated, using the database of the Sistema Informativo Sanitario Regionale, the epidemiological data and clinical outcome of patients hospitalized for DRG 127 in the district of Trieste from 1997 to 2000 (5514 hospital admissions and 69,236 days of hospital stay). The DRG 127 accounted for 2.6% of the total hospital admissions and 4% of the total days of hospital stay; moreover, it was found to be the first cause of hospitalization for medical DRGs (18.8%) as well as the first cause of hospitalization and of the days of hospital stay for cardiovascular DRGs (27.5 and 40.5%, respectively). Seventy-two percent of patients admitted for DRG 127 were > 75 years. In 1997, a mean of 4/1000 inhabitants of the district...Continue Reading

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Brain Ischemia

Brain ischemia is a condition in which there is insufficient blood flow to the brain to meet metabolic demand. Discover the latest research on brain ischemia here.