~From Vital and Health Statistics of the National Center for Health Statistics Number 93 � September 14,1983 

PROPERTY OF THE “ 

PW3LICATIONS XWW!-: 

EDITORIAL
 ‘LIBRARY


Utilization of Short-Stay Hospitals by Adolescents: 

United States, 1980 

by Edmund J. Graves, Division 

Introduction 

Estimates of the characteristics and diagnostic conditions 

of patients 12– 19 years of age discharged from non-Federal 

short-stay hospitals during 1980 are presented in this report. 

The statistics in this report are based on data collected through 

the National Hospital Discharge Survey, a continuous voluntary survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics since 1965. Approximately 224,000 medical records 

om 420 participating hospitals were included in the 1980 

e urvey. 

A brief description of the sample design, source of data, 

and definition of terms used can be found in the technical notes. 

A description of the design of this survey was published in 

1977.1 

Although previous reports have included data by the four 

major age groups (less than 15 years, 15–44 years, 45–64 

years, and 65 years and over), this report includes data only for 

adolescents 12– 19 years of age. It provides national estimates 

on the use of non-Federal short-stay hospitals by this group 

during 1980. Data are summarized by selected demographic 

characteristics of patients discharged and conditions diagnosed. 

Types of hospital utilization shown are frequencies, rates, percent distribution of discharges and average length of stay. The 

estimates are presented by age, sex, geographic region, and 

expected source of payment. 

Conditions diagnosed are coded by the International Classz~cation of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modl@ation2 

1National center for Health statie,ti~~, w. R. Simmonx Development of the 

design of the NCHS Hospital Discharge Sunrey, Vital and Health Statistics. 

PHS No. 1000-Series 2-No. 39. PubIic Health Service. Washington. U.S. Government Printing Offke, Sept- 1970.


2National center for Hea]th S&tisti~~ znte~natfona[ C[assficatiorl fJfDis-


0’euses, 9th Revisiow Clinical Modification. DHHS Pub. No. (PHS) 80-1260. 

ublic HesM Service. Washington. U.S. Government Printing OffIce, SepL 

1980. 

of Health Care Statistics 

(ICD-9-CM) and are presented by the chapters of the ICD9-CM and for selected conditions based on this coding scheme. 

Highlights 

Highlights of hospital utilization among adolescents are 

shown below. 

�	 Adolescents 12– 19 years of age comprised approximately 

14 percent of the United States civilian population but 

only about 7 percent of the discharges from non-Federal 

short-stay hospitals. 

�	 Of the 2.8 million adolescents discharged, 36 percent were 

male and 64 percent were female. 

�	 Private insurance was expected to be the principal payor 

for over 60 percent of all hospitalizations for adolescents 

and Medicaid was expected to be the principal payor for 

under 20 percent. 

� Obstetrical deliveries accounted for about one third of female 

discharges for adolescents. 

� Injury and poisoning accounted for about one third of male 

d;charges for adolescents. 

Utilization 

Selected measures of hospital utilization by sex for adolescents are shown in table 1. During 1980,2.8 million adolescents 

12– 19 years of age were discharged from short-stay hospitals. 

Thk was about 7 percent of the 38.5 million patients (excluding 

newborn infants) discharged from short-stay hospitals. Of the 

2.8 million adolescent discharges, 1.0 million (36 percent) were 

male and 1.8 million (64 percent) were female. The rate for 

males was 628 per 10,000 population and for females it was 

1,167 per 10,000 population. Thus, the rate for females was 

86 percent higher than the rate for males. The number and rate 

of discharges are higher for females than for males because a 

~largenumber of teenage women Were hospitalized for delivU.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Public Health Service 
2 aciwincedata 

Table 1. Number, percent distribution, rate, and averaga length of stay for adolescents discharged from short-stay non- Faderal hospitals by age 

of patient, according to sex United States, 1980 

Age * 

Sex 12 13 74 75 16 17 18 19 Total 

years years years years yaara years years years 

Number of discharges in thousanda 

Both sexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,$37 149 167 212 290 378 475 555 610 

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,008 85 80 99 121 138 159 168 158 

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,829 64 87 113 170 240 316 -386 452 

Female (excluding obstetrical conditions) . . . . . . . . 1,059 63 83 95 130 157 167 180 185 

Percent distribution 

Eoth sexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 5.3 5.9 7.5 10.2 13.3 16.8 19.5 21.5 

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 8.4 7.9 9.9 12.0 13.7 15.8 16.7 15.7 

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 3,5 4.8 6.2 9.3 13.1 17.3 21.1 24.7 

Female (excluding obstetrical conditions) . . . . . . . . 100.0 6.0 7.8 9.0 12.2 14.8 15.7 17.0 17.4 

Rate per 10,000 population 

Both sexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 894.6 423.4 462.2 566.7 727.5 905.4 1,131.5 1,334.9 1,420.0 

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628.3 471.6 432.7 519.7 592.3 648.2 746.5 812.0 747.3 

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,167.3 373.2 492,9 615.6 868.2 1,173.2 1,526.6 1,856.0 2,072.4 

Female (excluding obstetrical conditions) . . . . . . . . 675.9 366.6 467.4 518.8 662.3 767.1 804.0 866.1 B46. 1 

Average length of stay 

Both sexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7 5.2 4.7 5.2 4.9 4.9 4.8 4.6 4.4 

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4 4.9 4.5 4.7 4.8 5.8 6.1 5.6 6.0 

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4 5.7 4.8 5.8 5.0 4.4 4.1 4.1 3.8 

Female (excluding obstetrical conditions) . . . . . . . . 5.0 5.7 4.9 5.4 5.3 5.0 5,0 5.0 4.6 

cries and other obstetrical conditions. ExcIuding this category, 

the rate for female discharges was 676 per 10,000 population 

which was not sigtiificantly different from the rate for males. 

Approximately three-fifths of all adolescent discharges occurred among 17– 19 year olds, while only one fifth of all adolescent discharges occurred among 12-14 year olds. Nearly 

three-quarters of the 17–19 year olds discharged were female 

while only about half of the 12– 14 year olds were female. 

Annual rates of discharges per 10,000 population for adolescents increased consistently with increased age. The rate increased from 423 for 12 year olds to 1,402 for 19 year olds— 

an overall increase of 235 percent. With the exception of males 

13 and 19 years old, the annual rates of discharges for males 

and females followed the same pattern as the annual rates of 

discharges for all adolescents. The rate for males increased 

from 433 for 13 yearoldsto812 for 18 year olds—an overall 

increase of 88 percent. For females, the increase was from 373 

for 12 year olds to 2,072 for 19 year olds—an overall increase 

of 455 percent. Annual rates of discharges for females, excluding 

deliveries and obstetrical conditions, were similar to the change 

in discharge rates for males-increasing from 367 for 12 year 

olds to 846 for 19 year olds—an overall increaseof131 percent. 

The average length of stay for adolescents 12– 19 years of 

age was 4.7 days. For males it was 5.4 days and for females it 

was 4.4 days. However, if females with deliveries and other 

obstetrical conditions are excluded, the differences in the average length of stay between sexes was not significant-5.4 for 

males and 5.0 for females. 

In 1980, discharges from short-stay hospitals by geographic region for adolescents was higher in the South 987,000 

(35 percent) and North Central 857,000 (30 percent) regions 

and lower in the Northeast 546,000 (19 percent) and Wes 

446,000 (16 percent) (table 2). These figures are consistente 

with the distribution of discharges of all ages—34 percent for 

the South, 29 percent for North Central, 21 percent for ~e 

Northeast and 16 percent for the West. 

Average lengths of stay in days for adolescents by geographic region were 4.2 days in the West, 4.3 days in the South, 

5.0 days in the Northeast, and 5.3 days in the North Central. 

For adolescents, hospitalization was longest in the North Central and Northeast Regions and shortest in the South and West 

Regions. Average length of stay for all patients showed a slightly 

dfierent pattern. For all patients the highest length of stay was 

8.5 days for patients in the Northeast while the lowest length of 

stay was 6.1 days for patients in the South. 

Of the 2.8 million adolescents discharged from nonFederal short-stay hospitals in the United States during 1980, 

TabIe 2. Number, parcent distribution, and average Iangth of stay 

for adolescents discharged from short-stay non-Federal hospitals, 

by geographic region United States, 1980 

Number of 

Region discharges 

Percant Average length of 

stay in days (in thousands) ‘distribution 

All regions. . . . . 2,837 100.0 4.7


Northeast. . . . . . 546 19.2 5.0


North Cantral. . . 857 30.2 5.3


South . . . . . . . . . 987 34.8 4.3 �


West . . . . . . . . . . 447 15.8 4.2

.

private insurance was the principal expected source of payment for 63 percent of the discharges, Medicaid for 17 percent 

and self (family) payment for 11 percent (table 3). However, 

nly 36 percent of female adolescents admitted for delivery 

petted private insurance to pay for their bill and 30 percent @ expected to be covered by Medicaid (table 4). 

There were no significant differences in the average length 

of stay for adolescents by specflc age and source of payment. 

The average length of stay for all adolescents was 4.7 days. 

The average length of stay for patients using private insurance 

was 4.9 days, for those citing Medicaid as a source of payment 

it was 4.5 days, for those paying their own bills it was 3.9 days, 

and for those using other sources of payment, it was 5.3 days. 

As shown in table 5,2.2 million (78 percent) of the adolescents discharged from short-stay hospitals were never married while 0.4 million (16 percent) were currently married. Of 

those adolescents that were married, 94 percent were female. 

This is to be expected since many female adolescents are hospitalized for deliveries or other pregnancy-related conditions. 

Of the 582,000 deliveries, 279,000 (48 percent) were to nevermarned women and 272,000 (47 percent) were to currently 

married women. The remaining 30,000 (5 percent) were sep 

arated or divorced women or women whose marital status was 

not stated. Also of significance is that single females comprised 

66,000 (73 percent) of the 91,000 abortions performed on adolescents in hospitals. 

Number, rate, and average length of stay for adolescents 

by diagnostic classes and related diagnoses are given in table 6. 

Supplementary classification (which includes females with deiveries), injuries and poisons, and diseases of the digestive 

system, accounted for about 50 percent of all adolescent 

discharges. 

3 

Table 4. Number and percent distribution of female adolescents 

with deliveries discharged from shoti-stay non-Federal hospitals, 

by principal expected source of payment United States, 1980 

PerCant Expected source of payment Number distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582 100.0 

Private insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 36.2 

Medicaid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 30.0 

Self pay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 21.8 

Other sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 12.1 

For females, deliveries was the ‘leading diagnostic condition and accounted for 582,000 (32 percent) of female adolescent discharges. Abortion with 91,000 discharges (5 percent) 

and complications mainly related to pregnancy with 83,000 

discharges (5 percent) were also leading diagnostic conditions 

for adolescent females. A leading diagnostic condition for female 

adolescents not connected with the genitourinary-reproductive 

system was chronic disease of the tonsils and adenoids with 

76,000 discharges (2 percent). 

For males, fractures was the leading diagnostic condition 

and accounted for 105,000 (10 percent) of male adolescent 

discharges. Lacerations and open wounds, with 47,000 discharges (5 percent), and appendicitis and other dkeases of the 

appendix, with 46,000 discharges (5 percent), were also leading 

diagnostic conditions for adolescent males. 

The average length of stay for adolescent patient discharges 

from short-stay hospitals during 1980 was 4.7 days (table 6). 

This was significantly less than the average of 7.3 days for all 

patients discharged from these hospitals during 1980. Teenagers with mental disorders had the longest lengths of stay— 

Table 3. Numbar, parcent distribution, and everage length of stay for adolescents discharged from short-stay non-Federal hospitals by age 

of patient, according to principal expected source of paymerw United States. 1980 . 

Age 

Source of payment All 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 

agas years years years years years years years years 

Number of discharges in thousands 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,837 149 167 212 290 378 475 555 610 

Private insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,793 107 121 151 196 251 307 322 338 

Madicaid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483 25 26 35 48 57 81 100 110 

Self pay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 8 7 14 23 36 53 76 91 

All other sources . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 9 13 12 23 33 35 56 70 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Private insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.2 71.3 72.3 71.1 67.6 66.6 64.6 58.0 55.5 

Medicaid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.0 16.9 15.6 16.6 16.5 15.2 17.1 18.1 18.1 

Self pay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.9 5.5 4.1 6.4 8.0 9.5 11.0 13.7 15.0 

All other sources . . . . . . . . . . . 8.9 6.3 8.0 5.9 8.0 8.7 7.3 10.1 11.5 

Avarage length of stay 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7 5.2 4.7 5.2 4.9 4.9 4.8 4.6 4.4 

�Private insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9 5.1 4.9 5.5 4.7 5.2 5.0 4.5 4.3 

Medicaid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5 6.5 3.7 4.5 4.9 4.4 4.3 4.2 4.4 

Self pay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9 4.3 4.2 3.8 4.3 3.4 3.9 4.0 3.9 

All other sources . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 4.3 4.7 ‘ 5.3 5.1 5.0 5.0 6.3 5.2 

0 
4 ackmdaa 

Table 5. Number and percent distribution of adolescents discharged from short-stay non-Federal hospitals, by marital statua: 

United States, 1980 

Number of discharges 

in thousands 

Marital status 

Both Male Female Zjz==%Q sexes 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,837 1,008 1,829 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Currently married . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440 27 414 15.5 2.7 22.6 

Never married . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,222 926 1,297 78.3 91.8 70.9 

Other and not stated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 56 119 6.2 5.5 6.5 

16.4 days for all mental disorders and 24.0 days for psychosis. disorders. It should be noted that the chapter mental disorders 

The average length of stay ( 16.4 days) for Ml mental disorders includes diagnoses of drug and alcohol dependence as well as 

was over twice as long as any other ICD–9–CM chapter total other psychotic and neurotic disorders. By selected conditions, 

for adolescents and was significantly longer than the average other long stays were noted for malignant neoplasms (7.5 days) 

length of stay of 13.5 days for patients of all ages with mental and fractures (7.0 days). 

,, 
dnmedaa5 

Table 6. Number, rate, and average length of stay for adolescent discharges, by diagnoses and sax united states, 1980 

[Discharges from short-stay non-Fedsral hospitals. Diagnostic groupings and code numbers form the /rrtematiorra/ Classification of Diseases, 9tfr Revision, Clinics/ 

&fodificatiorr] 

Diagnosis and ICD-9-CM codel Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female 

Number of discharges Rate per 10,000 

in thousands .Dormlation . Average length of stay

All conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,B37 1,008 1,829 894.6 628.3 1,167.3 4.7 5.4 4.4 

Infectious and parasitic diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 001–1 39 74 32 42 23.3 19.9 26.8 4.3 4.3 4.3 

Viral diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . 045-079, 138, 139.0-139.1 41 18 24 13.0 11.0 15.1 4.3 4.1 4.4 

Other infectious and parasitic 

dis6ases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...001-041.080-137. 139.8 32 14 18 10.2 8.9 11.6 4.3 4.5 4.1 

Neoplasm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...140-239 46 17 29 14.6 10.8 18.5 4.8 6.6 3.7 

Malignant neoplasms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...140-208 18 9 9 5.7 5.6 5.7 7.5 9.6 5.4 

Benign neoplasms, carcinoma insituand neoplasmsof 

uncertain behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...210-239 28 8 20 8.9 5.1 12.8 3.1 3.3 3.0 

Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases and immunity 

disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...240-279 54 21 33 17.0 13.3 20.8 6.1 5.7 6.5 

Diabetes mellitus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...250 32 13 18 10.0 8.3 11.8 6.2 5.3 6.9 

Diseases of the blood and blood forming organs . . . . 280-289 41 21 20 13.0 13.2 12.7 3.5 3.3 3.7 

Mental disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...290-319 122 57 65 38.5 35.8 41.3 16,4 17.1 15.7 

Psychosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...290-299 24 13 11 7.6 8.4 6.8 24.0 20.6 28.2 

Disease of thenervous system andsenseorgans . ..320-389 82 44 38 25.8 27.3 24.3 5.4 6.1 4.7 

Diseases of the circulatory system.. . . . . . . . . . ...390-459 28 14 14 8.9 8.7 9.2 6.7 6.8 6.6 

Diseases of the respiratory system . . . . . . . . . . ...460-519 258 107 151 81.3 66.7 96.3 3.5 4.0 3.1 

Chronic disease of the tonails and adnoids . . . . . . ...474 105 29 76 33.1 17.8 48.7 2.0 2.1 2.0 

Pneumonia, all forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...480-486 26 15 11 8.1 9.0 7.0 5.7 5.9 5.5 

Asthma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...493 32 17 15 10.2 10.7 9.7 4.7 5.0 4.3 

Diseases of the digestive system. . . . . . . . . . . . ...520-579 320 147 173 100.8 91.6 110.2 3.9 4.0 3.7 

Disturbance oftooth eruption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...520.6 49 17 32 15.6 10.8 20.5 1.9 2.0 1.8 

Appendicitis and other diseases of the 

appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..540-WW 92 46 46 29.0 28.7 29.2 4.5 4.6 4.4 

Inguinal hernia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...550 21 18 2 6.5 11.4 1.5 3.3 3.4 2.6 

Non-infectious enteritis and colitis . . . . . . . . . . ...555-558 54 25 29 16.9 15.3 18.6 3.7 3.5 3.8 

Diseases of thegenitourinary system . . . . . . . . ...580-629 196 43 153 61.7 26.8 97.4 4.1 3.8 4.2 

lnflammatorydisaase of female pelvic organa. . ..614-616 46 . . . 46 14.6 . . . 29.6 4.8 . . . 4.8 

Disordars of menstruation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619-629 56 . . . 56 17.6 ,.. 35.7 3.3 . . . 3.3 

omplications of pregnancy, childbirth, and the 

e puerparium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...630-676 188 . . . 188 59.2 . . . 119.9 2.6 . . . 2.5 

Abortion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...630-639 91 . . . 91 28.6 . . . 57.9 1.8 . . . 1.8 

Complications mainly related to pregnancy . ...640-648 83 83 26.2 . . . 53.1 3.1 3.1 

Diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue . ...680-709 63 35 28 19.8 21.9 17.7 4.8 5:6 3.9 

Diseasas of the muscoloskeletal system and connective 

tissue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...710-739 143 72 71 45.1 44.8 45.4 5.2 4.8 5.5 

Disorders of bone and cartilage . . . . . . . . . . . ...730-733 29 20 9 9.2 12.7 5.6 6.6 6.2 7.6 

Congenital anomalies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...740-759 35 17 18 11.1 10.6 11.5 6.8 6.9 6.7 

Cartain conditions originating in the perinatal 

period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...760-779 “o *o . . . *0.1 “0.2 . . . “9.0 *9.O 

Symptoms, signs andill-defined conditions . . ...780-799 65 28 37 20.4 17.4 23.6 3.5 3.3 3:+ 

Injury and poisoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...800-999 490 331 159 154.6 206.6 101.4 5.2 5.1 5.6 

Fractures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...800-829 145 105 41 45.9 65.1 26.1 7.0 6.4 8.4 

Dislocation without fracture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...830-839 47 31 16 14.7 19.0 10.2 4.7 4.5 5.0 

Concussion (excluding those with skull fracture) . . . . . ..850 42 27 15 13.1 16.8 9.4 3.6 2.9 4.7 

Laceration and open wound. . . ...-..........870-904 59 47 12 18.5 29.1 7.7 4.7 4.8 4.1 

Sprains and strains of joints and adjacent 

muscles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...840-848 41 28 13 13.0 17.7 8.1 4.0 3.7 4.6 

Supplementary classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VOI –V82 632 20 612 199.3 12.6 390.5 3.7 3.7 3.7 

Femalas with deliveries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..V27 582 . . . 582 183.5 . . . 371.5 3.7 . . . 3.7 

‘National Center for Health Statistics: /rrtemariorral Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, ClinicalModification. DHHS Pub. No. (PHS) 80-1260. Public Health 

Service. Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office, Sept. 1980. 
6 

Technical Notes 

Survey methodology 

Source of data 

The scope of the National Hospital Discharge Survey encompasses patients discharged from short-stay non-institutionalized hospitals, exclusive of military and Veterans Administration hospitals, located in the 50 States and the District of 

Columbia. Only hospitals with six beds or more and an average length of stay less than 30 days for all patients are included 

in the survey. 

The universe of the survey consisted of 6,965 short-stay 

hospitals contained in the 1963 Master Facility Inventory of 

Hospitals and Institutions. New hospitals were sampled for 

inclusion into the survey in 1972, 1975, 1977, and 1979. In 

all, 544 hospitals were sampled in 1980. Of these hospitals, 72 

refused to participate, and 52 were out of scope. The 420 participating hospitals provided approximately 224,000 abstracts 

of medical records. 

Sample design 

All hospitals with 1,000 beds or more in the universe of 

short-stay hospitals were selected with certainty in the sample. 

All hospitals with fewer than 1,000 beds were stratifie~ the 

primary strata being 24 size-by-region classes. Within each of 

these 24 primary strata, the allocation of the hospitals was 

made through a controlled selection technique so that hospitals 

in the sample would be properly distributed with regard to type 

of ownership and geographic division. Sample hospitals were 

drawn with probabilities ranging from certainty for the largest 

hospitals to 1 in 40 for the smallest hospitals. 

Subsamples of discharges were selected within the sample 

hospitals using the daily listing sheet of discharges as the sampling frame. These discharges were selected by a random technique, usually on the basis of the terminal digit(s) of the patient’s medical record number, a number assigned when the 

patient was admitted to the hospital. The within hospital sampling ratio for selecting sample discharges varied inversely with 

the probability of selection of the hospitals. 

Sampling errors 

Since the estimates for this report are based on a sample 

rather than the entire universe, they are subject to sampling 

variability. The standard error is primarily a measure of the 

variability that is attributed to using a value obtained from a 

sample as an estimate of a population value. The value that 

would have been obtained had a complete enumeration of the 

population been made will be contained in an interval represented by the sample estimate plus or minus 1 standard error 

about 68 out of 100 times, and plus or minus 2 standard errors 

about 95 out of 100 times. 

The relative standard error is obtained by dividingthe standard error by the estimate. The resulting value is multiplied by 

100, which expresses the standard error as a percentage, The 

relative standard error applicable to patients discharged (or 

first-listed diagnosis) and days of care for 1980 data presented 

in this report are provided in table I. 

Tabla i. Approximate ralativa standard arrors of astimated number 

of first- listad diagnosas and days of cara 

First- Days 

Size of estimate in thousands listed of 

diagnoses care 

Ralative standard error 

.. 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.370 . . . 

10:	 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.165 0.295 

100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.080 0.165 

1,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . 0.050 0.100 

10,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.035 0.062 

Tests of significance 

In this report, the determination of statistical inference is 

based on the tw~tailed Bonferroni test for multiple comparisons. Terms relating to differences such as “higher” and “less” 

indicate that the differences are statistically significant. Terms 

such as “sinikir” or “no difference” mean that no statistically 

sign~lcant difference exists between the estimates being compared. A lack of comment on the difference between any two 

estimates does not mean that the difference was tested and 

found to be not significant. 

Definition of Terms 

Patient—A person who is formally admitted to the inpatient service of a short-stay hospital for observation, car 

diagnosis, or treatmen~ In this report the number of patient* 

refers to the number of discharges during the year including 

any multiple discharges of the same individual from one or 

more short-stay hospitals. 

Discharge-The formal release of a patient by a hospital, 

that is, the termination of a period of hospitalization by death 

or by disposition to place of residence, nursing home, or another hospital. “Discharges” and “patient discharges” are used 

synonymously. 

Days of care—The total number of patient days accumulated at the time of discharge by patients dischruged from shortstay hospitals during a year. A stay of less than 1 day (patient 

admitted and dkcharged on the same day) is counted as 1 day 

in the summation of total days of care. For patients admitted 

and discharged on different days, the number of days of care is 

computed by counting all days from (and including) the date of 

admission to (but not including) the date of discharge. 

Average length of stay—The total number of patient days 

accumulated at time of discharge by patients discharged during 

the year divided by the number of patients discharged. 

First-listed diagnosis—The coded diagnosis identified as 

the principal diagnosis or else listed first on the face sheet of 

the medical record. The number of first-listed diagnoses is equivalent to the number of discharges 

AgePatient’s age refers to age at birthday prior to admission to the hospital inpatient service. 

Blue Cross and otherpn”vate insuranc+Health insuranceo 

provided by nongovernment sources including consumers, insurance companies, private industry, and philanthropic organizations. 
7 

Medicaid—A joint federal-state welfare program avail- pitalization is expected to be paid by the patien~ spouse, parable in virtually all states that provide medical benefits for low ents, or next of kin. 

income persons, including the aged. In order to qualify for this Other paynzents-This includes all other sources of payrogram, a person must meet each State’s definition of “low ment such as workmen’s compensatio~ medicare, no charge, 

* 

come.” and other government payments. 

SeV-pay—The major share of the total costs for this hos-

. . . 

. . . 

0.0 

z 

* 

# 

Symbols 

Data not available


Category not applicable


Quantity zero


Quantity more than zero but less than


0.05 

Quantity more than zero but less than 

500 where numbers are rounded to 

thousands. 

Figure does not meet standards of 

reliability or precision 

Figure suppressed to comply with 

confidentiality requirements 
8 &ncedata 

Recent Issues of Advance Data From Wtal and Health Statistics 

No. 92. Americans Needing Help to Function at Home (Issued Sep- No. 89. Drugs Most Frequently Used in Office Practice National 

tember 14, 1983) Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 1981 (Issued April 15, 1983) 

No. 91. An Overview of the 1980 National Master Facility Inven- No. 88. 1981 Summary National Ambulatory Medical Care Surve 

tory Survey of Nursing and Related Care Homes (Issued August 12, (Issued March 16, 1983) e 

1983) 

No. 90. Utilization of Psychotropic Drugs in Ofice-Based Ambulatory Care: National knbulatogr Medical Care Survey, 1980 and 1981 

(Issued June 15, 1983) 

Suggested Citation 

National Center for Health Statistics, E. Graves: 

Utilization of Short-Stay Hospitals by Adolescents, 

United States, 1980. Advance Data From Vital Copyright Information


and Health Statistics, No, 93. DHHS Pub. No.


(PI-IS) 83-1250. Public Health Service, Hyattsville, This report may be reprinted without further


Md. permission.


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