THE IMPACT OF EPILEPSY ON ANNUAL HOSPITALIZATION RATES IN THE ELDERLY
Abstract number :
2.107
Submission category :
Year :
2002
Submission ID :
3292
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/7/2002 12:00:00 AM
Published date :
Dec 1, 2002, 06:00 AM
Authors :
Charlene J. Sweeney, Mark C. Spitz, Gerard F. Anderson, Peter W. Kaplan. Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD; Neurology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO; Health Policy, Johns Hop
RATIONALE: As the prevalence of epilepsy increases with age, and elderly patients suffer from multiple comorbid conditions, this study sought to assess the impact of epilepsy on annual hospitalization rates in the elderly.
METHODS: The 1999 5% SAF Medicare database is a nationally representative 5% sample of Medicare beneficiaries and includes the inpatient, outpatient and physician/supplier Medicare claims of 1.2 million people 65 years old and older. Patients with epilepsy are identified for analysis in this cross-sectional study using ICD-9 codes 345.x grouped according to the International League Against Epilepsy seizure type classification. The prevalence of comorbid conditions in epileptics is compared to nonepileptics using Chi-2 test. Mean and median annual hospitalization rates are estimated for epileptic patients with and without comorbid conditions and compared using the Chi-2 test and the Mann Whitney U test. Multiple logistic regression is performed to identify the odds of hospitalization in epileptics as compared to non-epileptics while adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity and comorbid conditions.
RESULTS: Epileptic patients have a higher prevalence of multiple comorbid conditions than non-epileptic patients. In the univariate analysis, the mean annual hospitalization rate in epileptic patients is 13.5 hospitalizations per 100 patients. This is substantially higher (p[lt]0.001) than the mean annual hospitalization rate in non-epileptics (3.6 per 100 patients). The addition of epilepsy to any comorbid condition more than doubles the median annual hospitalization rate. Even after adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity and multiple comorbid conditions, epileptic patients have higher odds of hospitalization than non-epileptics (p[lt]0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: Elderly epileptic patients are at higher risk for hospitalization and have higher rates of comorbid conditions as compared to non-epileptic elderly patients.
[Supported by: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Partnership for Solutions: Better Lives for People with Chronic Conditions]