Factors determining hospital admission of Thai elderly by a mailed survey.

OBJECTIVE To study risk factors of hospital admission among older Thai adults. MATERIAL AND METHOD Nationwide observational cross-sectional survey by mailed questionnaires. 1801 older adults who attended senior citizen clubs organized by local hospitals from 66 provinces of Thailand. RESULTS 28.1% of subjects had been admitted to a hospital. Independent factors determining hospital admission were lung disease (adjusted OR 2.13), history of fall (adjusted OR 1.73), poor global self-rated health (adjusted OR 1.62), taking calcium tablets (adjusted OR 1.61), preferring fatty food (adjusted OR 1.59), being former smokers (adjusted OR 1.56), low body mass index (adjusted OR 1.52), hypertension (adjusted OR 1.37) and poor mobility ability (adjusted OR 1.16). CONCLUSION Prevention of hospital admission among the elderly should involve preventing cigarette smoking, promoting healthy dietary habit, fall prevention and screening for hypertension.