A new study in Canada sheds more light on possible factors that could lead to hospital readmissions for some COVID patients who were discharged less than a month ago.
Researchers say the readmission rate may be similar to that seen for other conditions, but socioeconomic factors and gender appear to play a larger role in determining which patients are more likely to suffer dementia. their condition when they are deported.
The study published Monday in the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) focused on 46,412 adults hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Alberta and Ontario in the early stages of the pandemic.
- Approximately 18% of them, or 8,496 patients, died in the hospital between January 2020 and October 2021, which is higher than is typically seen in other respiratory tract infections.
- Of those repatriated, approximately 9% returned to the hospital within 30 days of departure, while 2% died.
- The combined readmission or death rate was the same in each province, at 9.9% or 783 patients in Alberta and 10.6% or 2,390 patients in Ontario.
- About half of the patients returned to the hospital due to difficulty breathing, the main reason for re-admission.
Faced with speculation that patients were discharged from the hospital too early, the report found that most spent less than a month in the hospital and patients who stayed longer were in fact re -admitted to the hospital, which was slightly more. the rate is high.
We first asked ourselves, “Did people go home too early?”, And there was no relationship between length of hospital stay and readmission rates, which was reassuring.said co-author Dr. Finlay McAlister, professor of general internal medicine at the University of Alberta, Edmonton.
So clinicians seem to be determining the right patients to send homeHe added.
People and poverty
The report found that patients readmitted were typically male, older and had multiple comorbidities and previous hospital visits and admissions. They are also more likely to be discharged with home care or in a long -term care facility.
Dr. also found out. McAlister that socioeconomic status is a factor, noting that hospitals have traditionally used a scoring system to predict outcomes by looking at length of stay, age, companions and previous emergency room visits.
” There is a message we repeatedly see in COVID-19: poorer socio-economic status seems to be even more important than other medical conditions. “
Professor McAlister believes the data from the study will help family physicians identify patients who need additional help when they leave the hospital. Evidence suggests that many people who survive COVID-19 are unable to completely hide the pain behind them.
Dr. explained. Amol Verma, a physician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and co-author of the study, in which the researchers did not measure the size of the impact of socioeconomic status as a factor in hospital re-admission.
However, they checked the postcodes of the patients. Those with postcodes associated with low education and income are more likely to return to the hospital, Drs. Verma.
The research period was ahead of the push for the Omicron variant to appear in late 2021, but Dr McAlister said there was no reason to suspect a large difference in patients today.
Source: Radio-Canada
