Objective: The present study investigated the association of having diabetes with length of stay and hospital costs for elderly patients with pneumonia who were admitted to an acute-care hospital in Japan.
Methods: Based on the inpatient administrative claims database of an acute-care hospital in central Tokyo between 2010 and 2013, 753 patients aged ≥ 65 years who were admitted to the hospital presenting with pneumonia and discharged alive were analyzed. The association was analyzed using a negative binomial model, having adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, dyspnea grade, functional evaluation of feeding, use of mechanical ventilation, and use of renal replacement therapy. A log-linear regression model adjusted for the same variables was used in the analysis of hospital costs.
Results: Of the 753 patients (mean age, 82.5 years; men, 58.2%), 225 patients had diabetes. The negative binomial regression revealed that those with diabetes had a 1.19 times longer length of stay (95% CI = 1.06-1.33) compared to those without. The log-linear regression revealed that hospital costs were 1.14 times higher (95% CI = 1.04-1.25) in patients with diabetes.
Conclusion: The presence of diabetes significantly correlated with longer length of stay and higher hospital costs for elderly patients with pneumonia.