Preventable hospitalizations for congestive heart failure in Native Hawaiian, Filipino, and Japanese adults compared to whites

Research Objective: Hospitalizations for congestive heart failure (CHF) are considered to be generally avoidable with good outpatient management and are the most common type of preventable hospitalization as defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Little is known about preventable hospitalizations for CHF among Asian and Pacific Islanders, though many of these populations have high rates of heart disease.

Study Design: We used Hawaii Health Information Corporation data, which provides detailed discharge data from all hospitalizations in Hawaii, from December 2006-December 2010 for individuals aged 18+ who were Japanese, Native Hawaiian, Filipino, or White and who lived in Hawaii. Preventable hospitalizations for CHF were defined by AHRQ criteria. CHF preventable hospitalizations were compared in rates and rate ratios (RR [95% CI]) for Asian and Pacific Islander groups compared to Whites using population totals by race/ethnicity as denominators. Final multivariable negative binomial models adjusted for age, gender, co-morbidity, and insurer.

Population Studied: The total number of hospitalizations was 258,244 excluding transfers.

Principal Findings: The total number of CHF preventable hospitalizations was 9,824, or 3.8% of total hospitalizations. In unadjusted analyses, rates of CHF preventable hospitalizations were higher for Filipinos (RR: 1.39 [1.32-1.48]) and Native Hawaiians (RR: 1.14 [1.08-1.20]) compared to Whites, but were slightly lower for Japanese (RR: 0.93 [0.88-0.99]). In fully adjusted models, Native Hawaiians continued to have significantly higher rates of CHF preventable hospitalizations compared to Whites (adjusted RR: 1.90 [1.30, 2.77]). Significance was not seen for Filipino and Japanese CHF preventable hospitalization rates compared to Whites. Also of note, Native Hawaiians with preventable hospitalizations for CHF had the youngest average age (62.7 years), followed Filipinos (67.8), Whites (71.7), and Japanese (75.7) (p<0.0001).

Conclusions: This study identified almost 10,000 hospital visits in a four-year period in Hawaii that could have potentially been avoided with better primary care for heart disease. This study finds failures in the management of heart disease (i.e. potentially avoidable CHF hospitalizations) exists for some Asian and Pacific Islander subgroups, particularly Native Hawaiians. Native Hawaiians also had younger ages of hospitalizations for this condition.