Comorbidity status in hospitalized elderly in Japan: Analysis from National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups

The detailed comorbidity status of hospitalized elderly patients throughout Japan has remained largely unknown; therefore, our goal was to rigorously explore this situation and its implications as of the 2015 fiscal year (from April 2015 to March 2016). This study was based on a health insurance claims database, covering all insured policy holders in Japan aged ≥60 years (male: n = 2,135,049, female: 1,969,019) as of the 2015 fiscal year. Comorbidity status was identified by applying principal factor analysis to the database. The factors identified in male patients were [1] myocardial infarction, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus; [2] congestive heart failure (CHF), cardiac arrhythmia, and renal failure; [3] Parkinson’s disease, dementia, cerebrovascular disease, and pneumonia; [4] cancer and digestive disorders; and [5] rheumatoid arthritis and hip fracture. However, in female patients, the results obtained for the quaternary and quinary factors were the opposite of those obtained in male patients. In superelderly patients, dementia, cerebrovascular disease, and pneumonia appeared as the tertiary factor, and hip fracture and osteoporosis appeared as the quaternary factor. The comorbidities in the elderly patients suggest the importance of coronary heart disease and its related metabolic disorders; in superelderly patients, fracture and osteoporosis appeared as factors, in addition to dementia and pneumonia.