{"title":"Sedative-hypnotic use by the elderly: effects on hospital length of stay and costs.","authors":"E J Yuen, M H Zisselman, D Z Louis, B W Rovner","doi":"10.1007/BF02790484","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sedative-hypnotic medications are often used to treat anxiety and sleep disorders, although they may not be used appropriately. Relationships between hospital length of stay (LOS), costs, and levels of sedative-hypnotic use were examined. Charts of 856 elderly patients were reviewed for sedative hypnotic use and categorized into three groups: those whose use exceeded Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) guidelines, those who used sedative-hypnotic medications but did not exceed HCFA guidelines, and those who did not receive any sedative-hypnotic medications. Patients whose sedative-hypnotic use exceeded guidelines had longer LOS (21.5 exceeding guidelines vs. 12.3 within guidelines vs. 6.7 no use, p < or = .001) and higher costs ($29,245 exceeding guidelines vs. $15,219 within guidelines vs. $7,516 no use, p < = or .001.) Even after controlling for severity of illness and comorbid conditions, differences in LOS and costs persisted. This study indicates that sedative-hypnotic medications are frequently prescribed to elderly patients, often in doses exceeding proposed guidelines, and are associated with longer hospital stays and higher hospital costs.</p>","PeriodicalId":73827,"journal":{"name":"Journal of mental health administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"1997-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1007/BF02790484","citationCount":"8","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of mental health administration","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02790484","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 8
Abstract
Sedative-hypnotic medications are often used to treat anxiety and sleep disorders, although they may not be used appropriately. Relationships between hospital length of stay (LOS), costs, and levels of sedative-hypnotic use were examined. Charts of 856 elderly patients were reviewed for sedative hypnotic use and categorized into three groups: those whose use exceeded Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) guidelines, those who used sedative-hypnotic medications but did not exceed HCFA guidelines, and those who did not receive any sedative-hypnotic medications. Patients whose sedative-hypnotic use exceeded guidelines had longer LOS (21.5 exceeding guidelines vs. 12.3 within guidelines vs. 6.7 no use, p < or = .001) and higher costs ($29,245 exceeding guidelines vs. $15,219 within guidelines vs. $7,516 no use, p < = or .001.) Even after controlling for severity of illness and comorbid conditions, differences in LOS and costs persisted. This study indicates that sedative-hypnotic medications are frequently prescribed to elderly patients, often in doses exceeding proposed guidelines, and are associated with longer hospital stays and higher hospital costs.