Fewer patients with cardiac infarction

The number of hospital admissions for cardiac infarction declined by 6.6 per cent from 1995 to 1996. Since 1992 the number has fallen by 16 per cent. Final figures for 1996 show 650,000 discharges and more than 3.16 million out-patient visits to somatic hospitals.

In 1996 there were 650,412 admissions to somatic hospitals (excluding psychiatry), an increase of 2.6 per cent from the year before when 634,000 patients were discharged. A small portion of the increase, slightly over 1,000 discharges, is attributable to the fact that two small hospitals were included in the 1996 statistics.

Far more women than men are hospitalized. The number of admissions for women was about 366,000 in 1996 compared to 284,000 for men. Much of it is explained by the fact that women give birth in hospital and they live longer than men. Not surprisingly, the elderly have the longest and most frequent hospital stays. More than 42 per cent of admissions are persons 60 years and older.

New statistics

Patient statistics, 1996
Statistics are published annually in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. For more information, contact: Merete Thonstad, tel. +47 21 09 45 39, e-mail: met@ssb.noFeil! Fant ikke referansekilden., or Anne Mundal, tel. +47 21 09 45 33, e-mail: amu@ssb.noFeil! Fant ikke referansekilden..

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 5, 1998