[Factors related to length of hospitalization of elderly patients during short stay].

Length of stay of elderly patients in hospitals can be subdivised into a medical stay followed by a social stay. The average length of stay of 2134 patients aged 75 and over, admitted to 23 medical or geriatric acute wards in Aquitaine, was 13.6 days; 18% of the patients experienced a social stay of at least one day. The mean social stay was almost null (1 day) when the patient returned home, but could reach 5 days when he was discharged to a long term care facility. The kind of hospital, domicile in a rural area, the social network, and the grounds for hospitalization were significantly related to the total length of stay, but explained only 5% of variance if diagnosis was not taken into account. This percentage rose to 29% in the group with "bronchitis" as a main diagnosis. The length of social stay was related to the grounds for hospitalization, but also to recent family modifications; it did not depend on the kind of hospital. These results suggest a lack of accessibility to nursing-homes, following acute hospitalization.