The Difference in Hospitalization Probabilities Between Rural and Urban Veterans.

To investigate the differences in hospitalization probabilities between rural and urban Veterans. A retrospective chart review. N/A. All older Veterans (65-94 years old) with at least one record of inpatient and outpatient visits from FY17-18. Not applicable. Care Assessment Need assessment's hospitalization probabilities between rural and urban Veterans across different disease groups. A total of 350,541 Veterans were identified. Older rural Veterans' hospitalization probabilities within a year and 90 days were 0.53 and 0.52, whereas they were 0.48 and 0.48 for urban Veterans on average, respectively. Except for Veterans with Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Puerperium, rural Veterans with all remaining Major Diagnostic Category groups showed higher hospitalization probabilities than urban Veterans. The greatest differences in hospitalization probabilities within a year and 90 days between rural and urban Veterans were with Veterans with Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (rural 1 year: 0.54, rural 90 days: 0.55, urban 1 year: 0.47, and urban 90 days: 0.48), Injuries, Poison, and Toxic Effects of Drugs (rural 1 year: 0.56, rural 90 days: 0.56, urban 1 year: 0.49, and urban 90 days: 0.51), and Diseases and Disorders of the Blood and Blood Forming Organs and Immunological Disorders (rural 1 year: 0.57, rural 90 days: 0.57, urban 1 year: 0.5, and urban 90 days: 0.51) on average. Older rural Veterans had larger likelihoods of hospitalization within 1 year and 90 days than urban Veterans, except for Veterans with Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Puerperium conditions. This study could result from older rural veterans having more comorbid conditions with limited accessible care. Future studies need to examine effective methods to reduce these discrepancies in hospitalization between rural and urban Veterans. This research was supported in part by grants (K12 HD055929) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Veterans Rural Health Resource Center (PROJFY-008290). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH and Veterans Rural Health Resource Center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]