June 20, 2021Open Access
National Trends and Disparities in Hospitalization for Hypertensive Emergencies Among Medicare Beneficiaries, 1999–2019
View Full Paper
Ask AI
Bookmark
Share
Key result
Older Medicare beneficiaries show a ~144% increase in hypertensive emergency hospitalizations over twenty years.
- Annual increase 5.6%
- 95% CI 5.51-5.61
- n=397,238
Why the study?
Hypertension control in the US has not improved over two decades with widening disparities, but progress in reducing hypertensive emergency hospitalizations remains less known.
Population
397,238 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged 65 years or older between 1999 and 2019
Comparison
Trends evaluated across demographic and geographical subgroups
Design
Serial cross-sectional analysis
Follow-up
30 days
Authors
Discussion
Loading...
Member takes
Implication
May warrant closer surveillance in older adults; extends trends but leaves drivers and interventions open.
Study Design
Type
Cross-Sectional (n=397,238)
Structured PICO
P
Population
397,238 individual Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged 65 years or older between 1999 and 2019 in the United States.
O
Outcome
Hospitalization for hypertensive emergencieshard clinical
Main Result
Effect estimate: Annual increase 5.6% (95% CI 5.51-5.61)
Absolute Event Rate: 125.9% vs 51.5%
Hospitalization rates for hypertensive emergencies among Medicare beneficiaries more than doubled from 1999 to 2019, with widening racial disparities disproportionately affecting Black adults.
Limitations
- Studied only Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries, which may not be fully generalizable to the broader US population
- Used administrative claims alone without confirming diagnosis with blood pressure measurements
- Based on primary discharge diagnosis, likely underestimating total hospitalizations
- Did not include Emergency Department and outpatient visits
- Could not determine causes for changes in 30-day outcomes
- Did not examine trends in Hispanic and other racial/ethnic subgroups due to misclassification in Medicare data
Cite This Study
Lu et al. (2021) conducted a cross-sectional in Hypertensive emergencies (n=397,238). From 1999 to 2019, the annual hospitalization rate for hypertensive emergencies among Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years or older increased significantly from 51.5 to 125.9 per 100,000 beneficiary-years.
Topics
View Full Paper
Ask AI
Bookmark
Share