A descriptive epidemiological study on the use of medical and Long term care insurance care services by short-stay service users

• Published in: Review of Japan Society of Health Support Science Vol. 8; pp. 73 - 80
• Main Authors: MURAMATSU, Keiji, MATSUGAKI, Ryutaro, LIU, Ning, TOKUTSU, Kei, NOMOTO, Yumi, FUJIMOTO, Kenji, MATSUDA, Shinya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japan Society of Health Support Science 2023; 日本ヘルスサポート学会
• Subjects: Dependent aged; Medical needs; Short stay; ショートステイ; 医療ニーズ; 要介護高齢者
• ISSN: 2188-2924
• DOI: 10.14964/hssanj.8.73

Purpose: In order to examine the medical needs of elderly people requiring long-term care （LTC） in an unstable state who are “occasionally hospitalized or admitted”, we investigated the utilization status of medical and LTC services, and prevalence of major injuries among short stay users of health care facilities for the elderly..Data and methods: Medical and long-term care insurance （LTCI） receipts from 34 secondary health care regions in Japan were consolidated on an individual basis. Using this database, medical and LTCI service utilization and prevalence of major injuries were examined from one month before short stay service use to 11 months after use.Results: After 11 months, the utilization rate for short stay service was around 20%, but on the other hand, the number of institutional care users was increasing. The short stay users suffered from multiple chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, cerebrovascular disease, heart failure, and dementia. As a result, the cumulative mortality rate per year is as high as about 20%. This situation requires care management putting more importance on clinical aspect. Around 80% used outpatient care. This figure suggested that their chronic diseases were managed by primary care physicians.Discussion: Looking at the short stay users over time, the cumulative mortality rate over one year was around 20%, and the transition rate to institutional care was 20%. In addition, many of the users suffer from multiple chronic diseases, and it was thought that active medical management by their primary care physicians was necessary to maintain their home life..