Health and socioeconomic risk factors for overnight admission among older adults in Ghana

Ghana’s older adult population is growing significantly. However, there is limited knowledge or research on the effect of place, chronic health conditions, and socioeconomic status on the risk of overnight hospital admission or the frequency of hospitalisation among older adults in Ghana. Using the WHO SAGE (Wave 1) data, we examine the influence of place of residence, chronic health conditions, and socioeconomic status on overnight hospital admission, as well as, frequency of hospital admission among older adults in Ghana. Multivariate logistic regression and zero-inflated negative binomial regression models were used to study the influence of place, health conditions, and socioeconomic status on overnight hospital admission. The findings show that older adults with functional limitations and chronical health conditions were more likely to have experienced an overnight hospital admission. The expected number of overnight hospital admission was greater among chronically ill older adults than their healthy counterparts. However, the findings show that socioeconomically vulnerable older adults were less likely to have overnight hospital admission and they had lower admission rates. The presence of chronic health conditions is associated with overnight hospital admission, while poor socioeconomic status may imply underutilization or limited access to healthcare for the socioeconomically vulnerable.