Incidence and risk factors for hospitalization in institutionalized elderly people

Abstract Objective To evaluate the incidence of hospitalization and its risk factors in institutionalized elderly people during a 12-month follow-up in the city of Natal, RN, Brazil. Methods Concurrent cohort study composed of elderly people aged 60 years or over and residing in the 10 Long-term Care Institutions for the elderly participating in the study. Of the 320 participants, data regarding sociodemographic conditions (i.e., age, marital status, children, health insurance plan, type of institutions, length of institutionalization and if it was due to illness, the ratio of the number of elderly people per caregiver, and health conditions), nutritional status (MAN), functional capacity (KATZ index), cognitive status (Pfeiffer test), and muscle weakness (dynamometer) were collected. A significance level of 5% (p<0.05) and a 95% confidence interval (CI) were considered in the bivariate and multivariate analyses. Results 20.6% (95%CI: 16.5-25.4) of the total number of participants were hospitalized, with an average length of stay of 16.1 days (SD: 17.1) at the end of the 12 months. The main cause of hospitalization was lung disease (30.3%). The presence of malnutrition or risk of malnutrition (p=0.016, 95%CI: 1.17-4.96) and use of drugs for the cardiovascular system (p=0.003; 95%CI: 1.43-5.77) were risk factors for hospitalization, after adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical variables. Conclusion Hospitalization had a high incidence among the elderly. Also, malnutrition or risk of malnutrition and the use of cardiovascular drugs were considered risk factors for hospitalization in the 12 months.