Hospitalizations for diabetes in Pennsylvania increased by 10.5 percent from 2000-2009, according to a new report by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.
Diabetes, which occurs when the pancreas does not make enough insulin or the body does not use the insulin properly, is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. It can lead to serious health complications, including heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, lower limb amputations and blindness. Hospitalizations for which the principal diagnosis was diabetes rose from 21,842 in 2000 to 24,143 in 2009. However, the 2009 figure was slightly lower than for each of the previous three years. Diabetes hospitalizations in Pennsylvania peaked in 2008 at 24,680.
Other key findings from PHC4's report include the following:
• Total patient days for diabetes have declined each year since 2006, when they reached 134,421. Diabetes accounted for 122,496 patient days in 2009, the lowest total since 2000.
• Hospitalization rates were consistently higher for black non-Hispanic Pennsylvanians than for all other groups from 2000-2009.
• Hospitalization rates increased for the 18-44 age group and the 45-64 age group but declined among the 65-84 population from 2000-2009.
• Together, Medicare and Medicaid paid for 71.4 percent of diabetes hospitalizations in Pennsylvania.
Diabetes, which occurs when the pancreas does not make enough insulin or the body does not use the insulin properly, is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. It can lead to serious health complications, including heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, lower limb amputations and blindness. Hospitalizations for which the principal diagnosis was diabetes rose from 21,842 in 2000 to 24,143 in 2009. However, the 2009 figure was slightly lower than for each of the previous three years. Diabetes hospitalizations in Pennsylvania peaked in 2008 at 24,680.
Other key findings from PHC4's report include the following:
• Total patient days for diabetes have declined each year since 2006, when they reached 134,421. Diabetes accounted for 122,496 patient days in 2009, the lowest total since 2000.
• Hospitalization rates were consistently higher for black non-Hispanic Pennsylvanians than for all other groups from 2000-2009.
• Hospitalization rates increased for the 18-44 age group and the 45-64 age group but declined among the 65-84 population from 2000-2009.
• Together, Medicare and Medicaid paid for 71.4 percent of diabetes hospitalizations in Pennsylvania.
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