[Appropriateness of hospitalization in the teaching hospital of Chieti using the P.R.U.O. approach]

This study describes the results of a research carried out to evaluate inappropriate admissions and totally inappropriate hospitalizations (RTI) in the teaching hospital "SS. Annunziata" of Chieti using the 1999 version of the PRUO manual. A random sample of 1218 medical charts, drawn from all the medical charts of patients admitted from June to December 2000 in the units of Medicine, Surgery and Orthopaedics, was selected. The percentage of inappropriate admissions was 38.2%, while totally inappropriate hospitalizations were 18.1%. The highest percentage of inappropriate admissions was in the class of age 55-64 years. Moreover, inappropriate admissions were more frequent in the morning hours (7:00-12:59) and, within the week, on Monday. The first reason of inappropriateness of the admission, was the execution of diagnostic examinations (62.2%), followed by the execution of medical therapy (19.3%) and waiting of surgical intervention (13.4%). Short hospitalizations (2-3 days) are more frequently totally inappropriate as compared to longer hospitalizations. These findings suggest that a system for the assessment of appropriateness of hospitalizations should be established in the Abruzzo region including all accredited public and private hospitals.