Hospital Discharge Status

For all types of musculoskeletal injuries resulting in hospitalization, three of four people ages 85 years and older were discharged to intermediate-term nursing care, while two in three aged 75 to 84 years went to nursing care. Fractures were the most likely type of injury to result in discharge to intermediate-term nursing care for all ages, followed by dislocations. (Reference Table 9B.6.3 PDF [1] CSV [2])

Discharge to intermediate-term or skilled nursing care greatly increases the economic burden of musculoskeletal injuries. In 2011, 40% of hospital discharge patients with a musculoskeletal injury, or 690,000, were sent to long-term or skilled nursing facilities.