Psychosocial factors predicting length of hospitalization in elderly individuals with diabetes in selected hospitals of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran, in 2015

BACKGROUND Currently, researchers seek to identify factors related to length of hospital stay in elderly in order to reduce burden on the health system. The importance of either physiological or psychological factors in determining health outcomes has been well stablished; however, the possible contribution of psychosocial factors particularly in elderly patients with diabetes is also of special importance. This study aimed to know what psychosocial variables predicts length of hospital stay in elderly patients with diabetes. METHODS This was a cross-sectional, correlational study conducted on 150 elderly patients from July-October 2015. Convenient sampling method was used to recruit the subjects. The data was collected by a three-part questionnaire consisted of demographic and health related characteristics, 21-item depression anxiety stress scale (DASS-21) and multidimensional scale of perceived social support (MSPSS). RESULTS The mean ± standard deviation of length of hospital stay was 15.6 ± 7.7 days. Findings from multiple regression analysis showed that the models of predicting length of hospital stay in subgroups of both women (P = 0.001, F6,77 = 4.45) and men (P = 0.030, F6,71 = 2.43) were significant. The entered variables in subgroups of women and men accounted for 27% and 18% of total variance (R2) of the length of hospital stay, respectively. None of the psychosocial variables in women significantly predicted the lengths of hospital stay. However, one out of three predicting psychosocial variables (i.e. stress) in men significantly predicted the length of hospital stay (β = 0.39, t = 2.1, P = 0.040). CONCLUSION The results emphasized the importance of promoting social support of elderly patients with diabetes, particularly in patients who are women, have higher levels of stress, have higher period of disease and a history of hospitalization in the past 6 months in order to lower length of hospital stay and finally promote health status in elderly patients with diabetes. Further studies regarding the effect of each of these factors on health condition of elderly with diabetes are recommended.