Risk factors for readmission include female sex, diabetes, sepsis on admission, payer status
THURSDAY, June 16, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Unplanned readmissions occur in about 8 percent of patients discharged from the general surgical service, according to a study published online June 15 in JAMA Surgery.
Lisa K. McIntyre, M.D., from the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, and colleagues reviewed the medical records of patients readmitted to any service within 30 days of discharge from the general surgery service. Index and readmission data for 2,100 discharges were characterized.
The researchers found that 8.2 percent of patients were identified as unplanned readmissions; 91 of these 173 patients were men. Reasons for readmission included soft tissue infections at new sites (16.8 percent), disposition support issues (14.5 percent), infections not detectable during index admission (13.3 percent), and sequelae of the injury or condition (9.2 percent). Overall, 9.2 percent of patients had a likely preventable complication of care and 1.2 percent were readmitted due to deterioration of medical conditions. On univariate and multivariate analyses, risk factors for readmission included female sex, presence of diabetes, sepsis on admission, intensive care unit stay during index admission, discharge to respite care, and payer status.
“Many readmissions may be unavoidable in our current paradigms of care,” the authors write. “Identification of the highest risk cohort for readmission can allow more targeted intervention for similar populations with socially challenged patients.”
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