Analyzing Diabetes-Related Hospitalizations: Trends and Insights from NIS 2016–2019 for Health Informatics Applications

Potentially preventable hospitalizations are a major area of concern as they represent a huge financial burden across the healthcare ecosystem. To alleviate this issue, this research investigates characteristics, risk factors, and outcomes related to hospital inpatient stays in the context of diabetic patients. Diabetes is a major public health issue that is approaching epidemic proportions globally. Compared to the early 2000s, the prevalence of diabetes in individuals within the age group of 20 - 79 years has increased by 53.3% in the US. In addition to clinical factors, prior studies emphasized the role of socio-economic factors, health conditions, demographics, and quality of care in influencing hospitalization rates. In this retrospective cohort study, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) National Inpatient Sample (NIS) dataset (2016-2019) was analyzed. This study identified trends in length of stay (LOS) by highlighting disparities related to demographics, income and payer type with an overall goal to guide administrators and policy makers involved in the design and development of systems and health policy services to implement new action plans and quality initiatives.From 2016 to 2019, it was observed that diabetes-related hospitalizations increased by 6.8%. Females accounted for 51–52% of cases, and most patients were between 18–68 years. White patients comprised the largest proportion (52–53%), while individuals in the lowest income quartile accounted for 38.9–40.8% of diabetes-related hospitalizations. The mean LOS for diabetes-related stays increased slightly from 3.17 to 3.25 days over the four years, with older adults and males experiencing longer stays. Most patients were treated in private, non-profit hospitals, with urban teaching hospitals accounting for most admissions. A multivariate linear regression model was used to analyze the impact of variables such as age, gender, payer type, income, hospital characteristics, and severity of illness on LOS. The results indicate that among diabetic patients, risk factors such as age, demographics, income, and insurance policies associated with in-patient stays are critical and warrant further investigation. Findings of this study suggest that awareness, timely screening, and lifestyle changes from a young age can reduce diabetes-related complications and eventually lower preventable hospitalizations, thus improving the effectiveness of healthcare delivery.