Poor Self-Rated Health Is Associated with Hospitalization and Emergency Department Visits in African American Older Adults with Diabetes.

OBJECTIVES

We investigated the associations between poor self-rated health (SRH), hospitalization, and emergency department (ED) visits among African American older adults with diabetes mellitus (DM).

METHODS

This survey recruited 235 non-institutionalized African American older adults (age > = 55 years) with diabetes mellitus (DM). Participants were recruited using a convenience sample from economically disadvantaged urban areas of South Los Angeles, California. Poor SRH was the independent variable. Hospitalization and ED visits in the past 12 months were the outcomes. Demographic factors, health [comorbid medical conditions (CMCs) and polypharmacy], health behaviors (smoking and drinking), and access (difficulty accessing care, dissatisfaction with the medical care, routine source of care, and visiting the same doctor) were confounders. Binary logistic regressions were used for data analysis.

RESULTS

Poor SRH was associated with higher odds of hospitalization and ED visit, while all covariates were controlled.

CONCLUSIONS

Poor SRH may be predictive of increased healthcare utilization among African American older adults with DM. Research should test whether close monitoring of African American older adults with DM and poor SRH helps reduce their frequency of hospitalization and ED visits or not.