Northeast U.S. Has Most Brain Cancer Hospitalizations

People in the Northeastern United States are one-third more likely than those in the South or West to be hospitalized for treatment of brain cancer or to have brain cancer when they are hospitalized for another illness or complication, according to a new report from the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

In 2006, about 30 of every 100,000 people in the Northeast were hospitalized with brain cancer. That compares to 23 per 100,000 for people in both the South and West. The rate was slightly higher for people in the Midwest — 25 per 100,000.

AHRQ's analysis also shows that in 2006:

• Nationally, the hospitalization rate for brain cancer remained stable since 1995 — roughly about 35,000 hospital stays a year.
• An additional 38,000 hospital admissions were associated with brain cancer — mostly for chemotherapy or radiotherapy to continue treatment, or for convulsions, pneumonia or other complication from the disease. These hospitalizations increased 18 percent since 1995.
• Among people over 65, men were 62 percent more likely to be hospitalized primarily for brain cancer and 55 percent more likely to be hospitalized with brain cancer as a secondary diagnosis than were women.
• While 6.2 percent of hospital patients admitted for brain cancer died while hospitalized in 1995, the rate dropped to 4.4 percent in 2006.

These findings are based on data from Hospitalizations for Brain Cancer, 2006 (HCUP Statistical Brief #68). The report uses statistics from the 2006 Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a database of hospital inpatient stays that is nationally representative of inpatient stays in all short-term, non-federal hospitals. The data are drawn from hospitals that comprise 90 percent of all discharges in the United States and include all patients, regardless of insurance type, as well as the uninsured.

Colorectal Cancer Hospitalization Rates Highest in the Elderly

Two-thirds of hospital stays for colorectal cancer involve Americans age 65 and older, according to a recent AHRQ report.

The agency's analysis also shows that when older patients with colorectal cancer are hospitalized not specifically for treating their cancer, the admission is often for complications, such as intestinal blockage or pneumonia.

The colon and rectum make up the lower part of the digestive system. Cancer of the colon and rectum are frequently reported together as colorectal cancer — the third most common type of cancer in the United States for both men and women.

AHRQ's analysis of colorectal cancer hospitalizations, based on 2006 data, found that:

• Treatment of colorectal cancer as a primary reason for admission accounted for about 152,000 hospitalizations in 2006. About 420,000 additional hospitalizations were for complications associated with cancer, such as pneumonia.
• About 4.5 percent — 6,800 — of the patients who were admitted for colorectal cancer died while hospitalized. This rate is much higher than the 2.6 percent overall death rate for the approximately 30 million hospital stays for all conditions that year.
• While the admission rate for people hospitalized primarily for colorectal cancer declined 15 percent between 1995 and 2006, the hospitalization rate for patients who were admitted for other conditions but also had colorectal cancer increased 15 percent.

These findings are based on data from Hospitalizations for Colorectal Cancer, 2006 (HCUP Statistical Brief #69). The report uses statistics from the 2006 Nationwide Inpatient Sample.

Eating Disorders Sending More Americans to the Hospital

The number of men and women hospitalized due to eating disorders that caused anemia, kidney failure, erratic heart rhythms or other problems rose 18 percent between 1999 and 2006, according to another recent AHRQ report.

AHRQ's analysis also found that between 1999 and 2006:

• Hospitalizations for eating disorders rose most sharply for children under 12 years of age — 119 percent. The second steepest rise was for patients ages 45 to 64 — 48 percent.
• Hospitalizations for men also increased sharply — by 37 percent — but women continued to dominate hospitalizations for eating disorders (89 percent in 2006).
• Admissions for anorexia, the most common eating disorder, remained relatively stable. People with anorexia typically lose extreme amounts of weight by not eating enough food, over-exercising, self-inducing vomiting, or using laxatives.
• In contrast, hospitalizations for bulimia declined 7 percent. Bulimia — binge eating followed by purging by vomiting or use of laxatives — can lead to severe dehydration or stomach and intestinal problems.
• Hospitalizations for less common eating disorders increased 38 percent. Those disorders include pica, an obsession with eating non-edible substances such as clay or plaster, and psychogenic vomiting, which is vomiting caused by anxiety and stress.

These findings are based on data from Hospitalizations for Eating Disorders from 1999 to 2006 (HCUP Statistical Brief #70). The report uses statistics from the 2006 Nationwide Inpatient Sample.

Repeat C-Sections Climb by More Than 40 Percent in 10 Years

The percentage of pregnant women undergoing a repeat Cesarean section (C-section) delivery jumped from 65 percent to 90 percent between 1997 and 2006, according to a recent AHRQ report.

C-sections are performed for medical reasons and they can be elective. Medical reasons include a previous C-section, malposition of the baby in the uterus, the mother having active genital herpes, the baby's head being too large to pass through the mother's pelvis, or problems with the umbilical cord.

AHRQ also found that:

• Nearly one-third of the 4.3 million childbirths in 2006 were delivered via C-section, compared with one-fifth in 1997.
• C-sections are more costly than vaginal deliveries, $4,500 versus $2,600 in deliveries without complications, and $6,100 versus $3,500 in deliveries with complications.
• Therefore, although C-sections account for 31 percent of all deliveries, they account for 45 percent of all costs associated with delivery.
• C-sections account for 34 percent of all deliveries by women who are privately insured but only 25 percent of deliveries by women who are uninsured.

These findings are based on data from Hospitalizations Related to Childbirth, 2006 (HCUP Statistical Brief #71). The report uses statistics from the 2006 Nationwide Inpatient Sample.

More Than 4 Million Potentially Preventable Admissions Cost Hospitals Nearly $31 Billion

American hospitals spent nearly $31 billion — 10 percent of their total patient care budget — in 2006 on more than 4 million patient stays that could possibly have been prevented with timely and effective ambulatory care, according to the another recent AHRQ report.

Hospital inpatient care is the most expensive type of health care. Reducing preventable hospitalizations is one way to lower America's $ 2.2 trillion medical bill.

According to AHRQ's review of the $31 billion spent on potentially preventable hospitalizations:

• Congestive heart failure and bacterial pneumonia accounted for about half of the expenses — $8.4 and $7.2 billion respectively.
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma accounted for roughly 16 percent — $4.9 billion.
• Diabetes, including complications, accounted for 13 percent — $4.1 billion.
• A large portion of the potentially preventable hospitalizations involved the elderly. One in five admissions of Medicare patients was potentially preventable, and overall Medicare patients accounted for roughly two-thirds of the $31 billion spent for these hospitalizations.

These findings are based on data from Nationwide Frequency and Costs of Potentially Preventable Hospitalizations, 2006 (HCUP Statistical Brief #72). The report uses statistics from the 2006 Nationwide Inpatient Sample.