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Hospital DischargeData (HDD), the demographic characteristics of agingArizonans being
discharged from hospitals becomes less diversewith age, reflecting thatminoritygroups have
worse health and experiencemortality earlier in life thanWhite non-Hispanics, and that female
life expectancy tends to be greater thanmale life expectancy. AmongolderArizonans, the
overall counts of ER and inpatient dischargeswere higher for adults in the youngest old (ages 65
? 74), but the rate of discharges increased for the oldest Arizonans (age 85 and older), and in
some cases, this increasewas substantial. The overall rate of dischargeswasmore than 100%
higher forArizonans in the oldest versus the youngest age group, and this held true for bothER
and inpatient discharges. The results indicate that Arizona?s olderWhite females experience
some of themost severemorbidities and chronic diseases associatedwith aging andwarrant
increased attentionwhen developing future policy concerninghealth and aging. On the other
hand, attention to the socioeconomic factors associatedwith health disparities and earlier
mortality among racial/ethnicminorities should become a focus for those developing general
policies aimed at promotinghealth for all Arizonans.
Finally, increasing the qualityof life forArizona?s older adults now and into the future requires
addressing existing causes and patterns ofmortality among the state?s aging population. Chronic
diseases that are currentlymost detrimental to the oldest Arizonans, exemplified byAlzheimer?s
disease among females, will become increasinglyproblematic as the population of older
Arizonans expands. Alternatively, themortality rates for a number of the leading causes of death
have decreased substantially amongArizona?s older adults, namely atherosclerotic heart disease
and cardiovascular disease amongbothmen andwomen, stroke amongwomen, and both lung
and prostate cancer amongmen. The decrease in leading causes of death that are somewhat
preventable and treatable foretell the increased burden that will be exerted in the future by
Alzheimer?s disease and dementia, which currentlyhave no known cure.While continuing to
reduce the number of deaths caused by the current leading causes of death, it is crucial to begin
preparingArizona?s healthcare infrastructure to handle the coming influx of older adults
experiencing cognitive diseases.
Overall, the findings of this report suggest that asArizona?s older population grows in both size
and proportion of the overall population, primaryprevention strategies focused on reducing
socioeconomic health disparities and increasing the availability and success of physical,
intellectual, and social activitieswill become increasingly important asmeans of reducing the
population health burden of chronic diseases associatedwith aging. Further developingour
capacity to provide health services to older adults alsowill increase in importance, but the ability
to prevent the development of costly chronic diseases andmorbidities associatedwith agingwill
be themost successfulmethod of reducing the overall costs ofmaintaining a healthy aging
population.
