The elderly and non-graduates are the most affected by hospitalizations that could have been avoided

Better follow-up would avoid costly hospitalizations for both the patient and the healthcare system. In 2017, in France, “265,000 hospitalizations for chronic pathologies could have been avoided” in medicine (excluding surgery, obstetrics and odontology), i.e. one hospitalization in 40, according to a study by the Department of Studies and Statistics of the Social Ministries (Drees) published on Wednesday April 5. “Nearly half were due to heart failure”says the document.

Potentially avoidable hospitalization (HPE) means that it might not have been necessary with better upstream management. It should not be confused with the irrelevant recourse to the hospital, according to the press release from the DREES.

Workers and farmers more affected

The risk of HPE decreases with the level of diploma, notes the Drees, which is based on data collected between 2012 and 2017. Thus, people “without a diploma or having only a certificate of primary studies have a 25% higher risk of being hospitalized in an avoidable way”. According to the study, workers and farmers are the most exposed socio-professional categories. Their working conditions and exposure to hardship factors “could influence their state of health and therefore the probability of having HPE”develops the Drees.

Among the populations most prone to potentially avoidable hospitalizations, the study also points to the oldest people. Four out of five affected people in 2017 were 65 or older, and one in three were over 85.

Another criterion favoring HPE: the absence of follow-up with a doctor during the past year. “Consulting your doctor between once and twice a year divides the risk of HPE by five and a half”, according to the DREES study, in particular because 51% of these hospitalizations are due to a chronic pathology. The risk is also greatly increased among people who have consulted many times (more than nine times a year).