[Efficiency of the acute geriatric units compared to the rest of the hospital departments. A 5-year audit of the case-mix adjusted for diagnosis-related group].

Introduction: Hospital occupancy rate by older patients is high, and it will be even higher in the future. Their hospital stay is usually longer, making it important for hospitals to develop structures with the best efficiency possible.

Method: Hospital discharges of patients older than 75years with the 15 most frequent Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRG) in Geriatrics were recorded during a 5-year period in a 1,200-bed hospital.

[Efficiency of acute geriatric units in Spain hospitals].

Objectives: To review published data from Spanish hospitals in which comparisons had been made between the mean length of stay in patients admitted to acute geriatric units (AGU) and those admitted to other departments using the diagnosis-related groups (DRG) classification system and to describe our own experience.

Material And Methods: The Spanish reports collected in a previous systematic review were reviewed. The case mix of our hospital was added by analyzing episodes in patients older than 74 years old discharged during a 24-month period and included in the most frequent DRGs.