Older people are NOT a huge burden on health services

This study will be available on bmj.com on Friday 16 April 2004.

Researchers analysed hospital death statistics for 1999-2000 to examine whether use of NHS hospital services in the three years before death varied with age.

Of the 254,000 people who died in hospital during this period, they found no evidence of increased use of acute NHS hospital services with age in the three years before death.

The number of hospital admissions over this period decreased with age and average length of stay was stable above age 45 years.

While the older sector of the population in total accounts for a high proportion of acute health care resources, this is due to the fact that they are nearing the end of their lives and not because they are individually more expensive, say the authors.

These findings agree with previous studies that have shown that the greatest acute care costs are incurred in the final years of life, no matter at what age this happens to be, they add. Such findings have important implications for understanding the use of acute hospital resources and for distinguishing the costs of dying from the costs of ageing.

Click here to view paper: http://press.psprings.co.uk/bmj/april/ageing.pdf