Differences in hospitalizations, emergency room admissions, and outpatient visits among Mexican-American Medicare beneficiaries

BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated the healthcare utilization of Mexican-American Medicare beneficiaries. We used survey data that has been linked with Medicare claims records to describe the healthcare utilization of Mexican-American Medicare beneficiaries, determine common reasons for hospitalizations, and identify characteristics associated with healthcare utilization. METHODS: Data came from wave five (2004/05) of the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiological Study of the Elderly. The final sample included 1187 participants aged ≥75 who were followed for two-years (eight-quarters). Generalized estimating equations were used to estimate the probability of ≥1 hospitalization, emergency room (ER) admissions, and outpatient visits. RESULTS: The percentage of beneficiaries who had ≥1 hospitalizations, ER admissions, and outpatient visits for each quarter ranged from 10.12–12.59%, 14.15–19.03%, and 76.61–80.68%, respectively. Twenty-three percent of hospital discharges were for circulatory conditions and 17% were for respiratory conditions. Hospitalizations for heart failure and simple pneumonia were most common. Older age was associated with significantly higher odds for ER admissions (OR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.21–1.84) but lower odds for outpatient visits (OR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.57–0.96). Spanish language and female gender were associated with significantly higher odds for hospitalizations (OR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.14–2.06) and outpatient visits (OR = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.43–2.33), respectively. Having a middle-school or higher level of education was associated with significantly lower odds for ER admissions (OR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.56–0.91). Participants who were deceased within two-years had significantly higher odds for hospitalizations (OR = 6.15, 95% CI = 4.79–7.89) and ER admissions (OR = 3.63, 95% CI = 2.88–4.57) than participants who survived at least three-years. CONCLUSION: We observed high healthcare utilization among Mexican-American Medicare beneficiaries. Forty percent of all hospitalizations were for circulatory and respiratory conditions with hospitalizations for heart failure and pneumonia being the most common. Older age, gender, education, language, and mortality were all associated with healthcare utilization. Continued research is needed to identify patterns and clusters of social determinants and health characteristics associated with healthcare utilization and outcomes in older Mexican-Americans. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12877-019-1160-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.