Comorbidities and Discharge to Rehabilitation Facility Foretell 30-day Re-admission in Heart Failure Patients

A US study reveals that discharge to a rehabilitation facility or home and certain comorbidities are significantly correlated with an increased risk of 30-day all-cause re-admission in patients with heart failure (HF).

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What Is Comorbidity?

Comorbidity is describe as two or more illnesses or health conditions that are occurring in one person. These can occur at the same period or it can happen one after the other. Comorbidity also means interactions between the illnesses that can worsen both.

Conditions that are described as comorbidities are usually chronic or long-term conditions. Other names referring to comorbid conditions are coexisting or co-occurring conditions or multi-morbidity or multiple chronic conditions.

Researchers said that, “Identified predictors in the patient population with HF at our institution may be used to target patients at increased risk of all-cause re-admission within 30 days.”

Retrospective chart review of patients aged >18 years admitted with HF and all subsequent re-admissions between 1^st October 2015 and 30^th September 2017 was facilitated to determine the impact of transitions of care (TOC) service on 30-day all-cause and HF re-admission and to identify predictive risk factors for 30-day all-cause re-admission. Researchers had developed a weighted logistic regression to determine these risk factors.

Analysis by TOC service involvement showed no significant differences in the rates of all-cause or HF re-admission. The significant risk factors for 30-day all-cause re-admission were discharge to a rehabilitation facility or home with home health compared with home with self-care. Furthermore, comorbidities such as diabetes, coronary artery disease, and aortic stenosis were significantly correlated with a higher risk of 30-day all-cause re-admission.

Alternatively, the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin-receptor blockers, and spironolactone associated with a lower risk of 30-day all-cause re-admission.

According to the researchers that heart failure (HF) is a prevalent and costly disease state for adult Americans, with 30-day re-admissions rates for patients with HF utilized to limit hospital compensation.

 

Source: J Pharm Pract 2021;34:567-572