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but when taken by age group, 57 percent of adults age 65-75weremarried and 14 percent
widowed, but only33 percent of adults age 85 and olderweremarriedwhile 56 percent were
widowed. Themajority (67 percent) of ER dischargeswere paid for byMedicare, with this
percentage increasingby age group. In 2012, therewere 239,851 total inpatient discharges of
Arizonans age 65 and older. Arizonans age 65 ? 74 accounted for 44 percent, those age 75 -84
accounted for 37 percent, and those age 85 and older accounted for 20 percent of inpatient
discharges, respectively. Females accounted for 128,513, or roughly54 percent, of all inpatient
discharges. This percentage of female inpatient discharges increasedwith each age group.White
non-Hispanics accounted for 84 percent (200,931) of all inpatient discharges, which again
increasedwith age group.
Among all Arizonans age 65 and older, themajorityof inpatient dischargeswere to thosewho
weremarried (51 percent), but when taken by age group, adults age 65-75were about 59 percent
married and about 13 percent widowed, but only33 percent of adults age 85 and overwere
marriedwhile 55 percent werewidowed. Themajority (70 percent) of inpatient dischargeswere
paid for byMedicare, with this percentage increasing slightlywith increasing age group.
First-listedDiagnosis forEmergencyRoomDischarges
Table 6 contains counts and rates of ER discharges ofArizona residents age 65 and older by age-
group in 2012. Therewas a total of 286,938ER discharges amongArizona residents age 65 and
older,meaning therewere approximately3,051ER discharges for every10,000 elderly residents
inArizona. For ER discharges, the two largest groups of conditions identified as the first-listed
diagnosiswere symptoms, signs, and ill-defined conditions (n=88,513), followed by injury and
poisoning (n=59,288). These two categories of conditions accounted for 51.5 percent of the
286,398 total ER discharges forArizonans age 65 and older.
Examining the difference inER discharge rates amongArizona?s youngest and oldest old reveals
the health burdens endured by those in the latest years of life. The overall rate of ER discharges
amongArizonans age 85 and older (4,949.1/10,000)was 102 percent greater than the rate of ER
discharges for all causes among residents age 65-74 (2,447.0/10,000). Specific causes that had
especiallyhigh discharge rateswhen comparing the oldest to the youngest oldwere fractures,
whichwere 206 percent greater for adults age 85 and older (253.4/10,000) than for adults age 65-
74 (82.8/10,000), discharges related to the circulatory system (includingheart disease), which
were 137 percent greater for the oldest Arizonans (467.3/10,000) than for those age 65-74
(197.3/10,000), and endocrine nutritionalmetabolic and immunitydiseases, whichwere 108
percent greater forArizona?s oldest old (135.4/10,000) than forArizona?s youngest old
(65.0/10,000).
First-listedDiagnosis for Inpatient Discharges
Table 7 contains counts and rates of inpatient discharges ofArizona residents age 65 and older
by age group in 2012. In 2012, 239,851Arizona residents age 65 and olderwere discharged from
Arizona hospitals as inpatients. Arizonan adults age 65-74 accounted for the largest proportion of
inpatient discharges (43.6 percent), followed by adults age 75-84 (36.7 percent), and those age
