The following is a summary of “Worse Outcomes After Readmission to a Different Hospital After Sepsis: A Nationwide Cohort Study” published in the October 2022 issue of Emergency Medicine by Lin et al.
More than half of all hospital deaths and 13% of all hospital costs occur due to sepsis in the United States. It’s also more common for patients with sepsis to be readmitted. The purpose of this research was to analyze the risk factors for and outcomes of diverse hospital readmissions (DHRs) among patients with sepsis. Patients admitted with sepsis were identified using information from the 2017 United States National Readmissions Database.
About 5 models were developed to understand better the connection between DHR and hospital outcomes using multivariable logistic regression analysis. About 21.97% of all US patients readmitted within 30 days with sepsis in 2017 were transferred to a new institution. Re-admission due to infection was the most common cause of hospitalization overall. Higher hospitalization costs ($2264; 95% CI $1755-$2772; P<0.001), length of stay (0.58 days; 95% CI 0.44-0.71 days; P<0.001), and risk of in-hospital mortality (odds ratio 1.63; 95% CI 1.55-1.72; P<0.001) were all associated with DHR compared to sepsis patients who were readmitted to the same hospital.
It was shown that 20% of US sepsis patients experienced DHR. Their results indicate that patients transferred to another hospital within 30 days may have an increased risk of death, longer stay, and higher overall hospital expenses. Therefore, patients with sepsis need to have their outcomes studied in the future to see if continuity of care makes a difference.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S073646792200422X
