Former US first lady Barbara Bush out of hospital

Barbara Bush was admitted to hospital just days after her husband George. Credit: AP

Former US first lady Barbara Bush, 91, has been discharged from hospital after undergoing treatment for bronchitis.

Mrs Bush was admitted to the Houston Methodist Hospital last week, just a few days after her husband, former American president George H.W. Bush, 92, was taken in be treated for pneumonia.

On Monday, doctors said Mr Bush was improving and had been moved out of the intensive care unit.

Mrs Bush was told she could return home on Sunday, but family spokesman Jim McGrath said she wanted to stay one more night in the hospital to fully recover and to stay close to her husband.

The Bushes have been together for more than seven decades - the longest marriage of any presidential couple in American history.