Predicting Short versus Long Hospital Stay for Navy Personnel with a Back Problem

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between medical and non-medical factors (i.e., severity of back problem, year of hospitalization, and type of admission) and short versus long hospital stay for Navy personnel with a back problem. The sample (N=19,134) consisted of all hospitalized cases of active duty enlisted Navy personnel between 1974 and 1983, inclusive, with a back problem as the primary diagnosis. Results indicated that a small percentage of back-problem cases accounted for a disproportionate number of total hospital days, and that short versus long hospital stay related to severity of back problem, year of hospitalization, and type of admission (i.e., direct versus transfer). Hospital policy impacts considerably upon the length of hospital stay of active duty enlisted Navy personnel with back problems. Future research should be directed toward understanding the relationship between the hospital normative structure and hospital costs.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 05, 1988
Accession Number
ADA200574

Entities

People

  • Brock Kilbourne
  • Charles Chesson
  • Susan Hilton

Organizations

  • Naval Health Research Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Duty
  • Classification
  • Health Care
  • Health Services
  • Hospitalizations
  • Hospitals
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military Personnel
  • Patient Care
  • Regression Analysis
  • Security
  • Social Sciences
  • Spinal Cord
  • Spine
  • Therapy

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Medical or Health Care Field.
  • Mental Health of Military Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Risk Factors, Prevalence, Symptoms, and Treatment.
  • Theoretical Analysis.