Common procedures and conditions leading to inpatient hospital admissions in adults with and without diabetes from 2015 to 2019 in Germany: A comparison of frequency, length of hospital stay and complications

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate common surgical procedures and admission causes in inpatient cases with diabetes in Germany between 2015 and 2019 and compare them to inpatient cases without diabetes. METHODS: Based on the German diagnosis-related groups (G-DRG) statistics, regression models stratified by age groups and gender were used to calculate hospital admissions/100,000 individuals, hospital days as well as the proportion of complications and mortality in inpatient cases ≥ 40 years with or without a documented diagnosis of diabetes (type 1 or type 2). RESULTS: A total of 14,222,326 (21%) of all inpatient cases aged ≥ 40 years had a diagnosis of diabetes. More middle-aged females with vs. without diabetes/100,000 individuals [95% CI] were observed, most pronounced in cases aged 40–< 50 years with myocardial infarction (305 [293–319] vs. 36 [36–37], p < 0.001). Higher proportions of complications and longer hospital stays were found for all procedures and morbidities in cases with diabetes. CONCLUSION: Earlier hospitalizations, longer hospital stays and more complications in inpatient cases with diabetes together with the predicted future increase in diabetes prevalence depict huge challenges for the German healthcare system. There is an urgent need for developing strategies to adequately care for patients with diabetes in hospital. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00508-023-02153-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.