The Risk of Inapppropriateness in the Italian Geriatric Wards Using National Hospital Data

In the last years, the issue of health care for the elderly population is becoming increasingly relevant. Italy could be considered one among the oldest countries in Europe: in fact the population aged 65 and over is 22.6% of the Italian population with an aging index of 168.7% (Istat_a, 2018). Moreover, a high percentage (49.6%) of elderly people shows at least one of chronic/chronic degenerative disease (Istat_b, 2018). This situation, considering an increasing 65-year-old life expectancy, will lead the Italian Health System to cope with a significant increase in healthcare consumption. This work will analyse the ordinary acute admissions in the geriatric wards of the Italian hospitals using the Hospital Discharge Data. Specifically the aim is to identify the risk of inappropriateness of the hospitalizations related to chronic diseases respect to the Italian regions.