Date of Conferral

7-15-2025

Degree

Doctor of Healthcare Administration (D.H.A.)

School

Management

Advisor

Dr. Miriam Ross

Abstract

Hospital administrators have been challenged due to length of stay (LOS) among patients suffering with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine whether there was a relationship between age, gender, and length of stay for COPD patients in Florida during the year 2019. The dependent variable was COPD length of stay, and independent variables were age and gender in Florida community hospitals during 2019. The Donabedian model was selected as the theoretical framework for this study to address structure, process, and outcomes associated with COPD readmissions. Secondary data was obtained from the Healthcare Cost Utilization Project and consisted of 2,326 COPD patients from various community hospitals in Florida, covering diverse demographics and regions. The study involved using a quantitative correlational research design and a simple linear regression analysis of variables to evaluate length of stay in terms of age and gender. Results did not reveal statistically significant associations between length of stay and age and length of stay and gender for this population. Across all discharge quarters, the R-squared values were extremely low, suggesting that age and gender explained little to no variance in LOS. Additionally, the p-values were consistently above the 0.05 threshold, reinforcing that no meaningful statistical association was found between these variables. These results suggested that other factors beyond age and gender contributed to variations in LOS for COPD patients. However, in order to identify strategies to reduce COPD length of stay, age and gender should be considered to determine how to improve patient outcomes and quality of care, thereby contributing to positive social change.

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