Comparison of discharge diagnoses and inpatient procedures between military and civilian health care systems

Background: Our goal was to compare the demographics and discharge diagnose s between civilian and military health care systems. Methods: One year (199 7) of data from the Retrospective Case Mix Adjustment System from the Milit ary Health Services System were compared with the most recent (1994) civili an National Hospital Discharge Survey data. Results: Military and civilian inpatient age (52.5 and 52.9 years), gender (54% and 59% female), and ethni c distributions (military: 71% white, 16% African American, 3% Asian Americ an, 10% other; civilian: 65% white, 12% African American, 2.6% Asian Americ an, 1.2% Native American, 18% unclassified) were similar. There were simila r rank orderings of diagnosis-related groupings (Spearman's rank correlatio n = 0.72) and procedures performed during hospitalization (Spearman's rho = 0.74), although the military inpatients yielded a higher proportion associ ated with pregnancy and strenuous activity (traumatic joint disorders and h ernias) than their civilian counterparts. Conclusion: The practice content of military and civilian inpatients appear to be more similar than differen t.