Table 1. Number of Short-stay Hospital Discharges Per 1,000 Population, by Age, U.S., 1967, 1974, 1977 and 1979.

Age	1967	1974	1977	1979	Percent Change, 1967-1979
All Ages	144	159	169	170	18
Under 65, unadjusted	130	138	145	144	11
Under 65, adjusted1	109	119	124	121	11
Under 15	67	72	73	73	9
15-44	162	155	160	156	−4
15-44, excluding deliveries2	115	120	125	120	4
45-64	161	188	198	196	22
65 Years and Over	289	346	374	389	35

¹The rates were adjusted first for the decrease in hospitalizations for deliveries due to the decline in the birth rate by excluding hospitalizations for deliveries.

Then the rates were age and sex adjusted by the direct method to the 1967 population using three age groups.

²The decline in the discharge rate for the age group 15 to 44 reflects the substantial decline in deliveries. This line gives the discharge rate excluding hospitalizations for deliveries.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, “Inpatient Utilization of Short-Stay Hospitals in Each Geographic Division, U.S.—1966-1968,” Vital and Health Statistics, Series 13, No. 10, “Utilization of Short-Stay Hospitals, Summary of Nonmedical Statistics, U.S.—1967,” Vital and Health Statistics, Series 13, No. 9, and “Utilization of Short-Stay Hospitals, Annual Summary of the United States,” Vital and Health Statistics, Series 13, No. 26, for 1974 and Series 13, No. 41 for 1977 and preliminary data from NCHS for 1979.