Factors Determining Hospital Admission of Thai Elderly by a Mailed Survey
Prasert Assantachai, MD, FRCP (Lond.)*, Nanta Maranetra, MD, FRCP (Lond.), FRCP (Glasgow), FRCP (Edinburgh)**
Affiliation : * Department of Preventive & Social Medicine, Siriraj Hospital ** Department of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital
Objective : To study risk factors of hospital admission among older Thai adults
Materials and Methods : Nationwide observational cross-sectional survey by mailed questionnaires. 1801
older adults who attended senior citizen clubs organized by local hospitals from 66 provinces of Thailand.
Results : 28.1% of subjects had been admitted to a hospital. Independent factors determining hospital
admission were lung disease (adjusted OR 2.13), history of fall (adjusted OR 1.73), poor global self-rated
health (adjusted OR 1.62), taking calcium tablets (adjusted OR 1.61), preferring fatty food (adjusted OR
1.59), being former smokers (adjusted OR 1.56), low body mass index (adjusted OR 1.52), hypertension
(adjusted OR 1.37) and poor mobility abilty (adjusted OR 1.16).
Conclusion : Prevention of hospital admission among the elderly should involve preventing cigarette
smoking, promoting healthy dietary habit, fall prevention and screening for hypertension.
Keywords : Hospital admission, Elderly, Thai
