Iatrogenic risk factors associated with hospital readmission of elderly patients: A matched case ‐control study using a clinical data warehouse

Summary What is knownHospital readmission within 30 days of patient discharge has become a standard to judge the quality of hospitalizations. It is estimated that 14% of the elderly, people over 75 years old or those over 65 with comorbidities, are at risk of readmission, of which 23% are avoidable. It may be possible to identify elderly patients at risk of readmission and implement steps to reduce avoidable readmissions. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to identify iatrogenic risk factors for readmission. The secondary objective was to evaluate the rate of drug‐related readmissions (DRRs) among all readmissions and compare it to the rate of readmissions for other reasons. MethodsWe conducted a retrospective, matched, case‐control study to identify non‐demographic risk factors for avoidable readmission, specifically DRRs. The study included patients hospitalized between 1 September 2014 and 31 October 2015 in an 800‐bed university hospital. We included patients aged 75 and over. Cases consisted of patients readmitted to the emergency department within 30 days of initial discharge. Controls did not return to the emergency department within 30 days. Cases and controls were matched on sex and age because they are known as readmissions risk factors. After comparison of the mean or percentage between cases and controls for each variable, we conducted a conditional logistic regression. ResultsThe risk factors identified were an emergency admission at the index hospita...
Source: Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research