AHRQ releases new women's health care fact book

AHRQ releases new women's health care fact book

A new women's health care fact book from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality AHRQ shows that pregnancy and childbirth accounted for 4.4 million hospital admissions in 2000, or one of every four hospital stays, and that depression was the second leading reason for the hospitalization of younger women. Other leading reasons for admitting younger women to the hospital include uterine fibroids, gallbladder disease, back problems, and asthma.

These statistics are from Care of Women in U.S. Hospitals, 2000, a fact book that includes a wealth of data on why women of different ages are hospitalized, what happens to them in the hospital, what hospitals charge for their care, and who pays the bill. The report is based on data from AHRQ's Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a powerful database that is part of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. It provides national estimates based on a sample of approximately 1,000 hospitals and 7 million hospital discharges.

The new fact book is the third in a series of AHRQ publications that provides detailed statistical information on different aspects of hospital care. To obtain a copy of the fact book, call the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse at 1-800-358-9295 or send an e-mail to ahrqpubs@ahrq.gov.

Go to www.ahrq.gov/data/hcup/factbk3/factbk3.htm to view the publication.

Source: AHRQ Electronic Newsletter, December 20, 2002, Issue #82