Hospitalization and Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine

In 2017, 15.3% of the US population 65 years of age and older were hospitalized, as were 22.1% of those 85 years of age and older.1 Given that there are 49 million persons 65 and older, and 6.5 million persons 85 and older,2 these numbers correspond to the staggering figures of 7.5 million older adults hospitalized, including 1.5 million of the oldest old, every year, often multiple times. It's no wonder that the April 2020 theme issue of JAMDA is dedicated to hospital care.