FRIDAY, May 24, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Postdischarge fall-related injury (FRI) is a leading readmission diagnosis for seniors, according to a study published online May 24 in JAMA Network Open.
Geoffrey J. Hoffman, Ph.D., from the University of Michigan School of Nursing in Ann Arbor, and colleagues compared the prevalence and ranking of FRIs for 30-day unplanned readmissions among Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years and older, overall and for two acute geriatric cohorts classified by fall injury or cognitive impairment diagnoses at index admission. A total of 8,382,074 eligible index admissions were identified, including 746,397 (8.9 percent) in the FRI cohort and 1,367,759 (16.3 percent) in the cognitive impairment cohort.
The researchers found that 14.4 percent of index admissions resulted in readmission; readmission rates were 12.9 and 16.0 percent for those with a previous fall and with cognitive impairment, respectively. Overall, FRI was ranked as the third-leading readmission diagnosis and accounted for 5.1 percent of all readmission diagnoses. Within the novel acute geriatric cohorts, FRI was the second-leading diagnosis for readmission for patients with FRI and with cognitive impairment at index admission (accounting for 10.3 and 7.0 percent, respectively, of all readmission diagnoses). FRI was the leading readmission diagnosis for those with an FRI at index admission and discharged home or to home health care.
“Adequately addressing heightened postdischarge fall among functionally and cognitively impaired older adults will likely require increased attention to the risks and benefits of enhanced activity and rehabilitation strategies within and across care settings,” the authors write.
One author disclosed financial ties to OncoImmune.
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