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Hospitalization

The purpose of the Hospital Utilization Statistics is to shed light on the connection between social and demographic conditions and admissions or out-patient treatments, etc. in hospitals.

Statistical presentation

The statistics is an annual inventory of admissions to and out-patient treatments at public and private somatic and psychiatric hospital wards within one calendar year. The statistics show how hospital admissions varies with demographic and social factors, such as residence, sex, age and family etc.

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Statistical processing

The register data received from the National Patient Register is linked with background data from Statistics Denmark and counts are made, e.g. number of admissions and number of out-patient treatments at public and private somatic and psychiatric hospital departments during the calendar year.

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Relevance

The statistics shed light on the number of hospitalizations and out-patients treatments in the Danish healthcare system, as well as the connection between social and demographic conditions and hospitalizations/out-patient treatments, etc. in hospitals.

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Accuracy and reliability

The National Patient Register is validated by the Danish Health Data Agency and the accuracy of the register data must be considered to be high because the registration has a long tradition and a high priority for administrative purposes. Accordingly, the overall accuracy of the Hospital Utilization Statistics is high.

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Timeliness and punctuality

Delay has occurred due to the transition to a new National Patient Register with a new register structure regarding data on admissions. The first tables (on the number of hospital admissions) on the new data basis were published at the end of 2022 for 3 calendar years; 2019, 2020 and 2021. The next tables (on out-patient treatments) are published in the spring of 2023.

Previous to 2019 (LPR2): The statistics are published 5-10 months after the end of the year. The punctuality is high.

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Comparability

Due to the new data structure in the National Patient Register there is a data breach from 2019.

On the basis of the previous national patient register version (2006-2018), 52 statistical bank tables were prepared. Half of these have now been archived, and new figures have been published for the most used tables, provisionally INDL01, INDL02, AMBU01 and AMBU02 (2019-2021).

Eurostat and the OECD make comparable data collections and publications in this field. There are a number of organizational and institutional conditions that we must keep in mind when comparing countries.

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Accessibility and clarity

The statistics are released in the newsletter Nyt from Statistics Denmark (in Danish only) and the Statbank, Statbank tables on hospitalisation rates (https://www.dst.dk/en/Statistik/nyt/relateret?pid=580). Statistical Yearbook and Statistical Ten-Year Review contain selected sections about hospitalisation rates.

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