Thirty-day hospital readmissions among mechanically ventilated emergency department patients.

BACKGROUND: Unplanned 30-day readmissions have a negative impact on patients and healthcare systems. Mechanically ventilated ED patients are at high risk for complications, but factors associated with readmission are unknown.

OBJECTIVE: (1) Determine the rate of 30-day hospital readmission for ED patients receiving mechanical ventilation. (2) Identify associations between ED-based risk factors and readmission.

DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING: Tertiary-care, academic medical centre.

PATIENTS: Adult ED patients receiving mechanical ventilation.

MEASUREMENTS: Baseline demographics, comorbid conditions, illness severity and treatment variables were collected, as were clinical outcomes occurring during the index hospitalisation. The primary outcome was 30-day hospital readmission rate. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate factors associated with the primary outcome.

RESULTS: A total of 1262 patients were studied. The primary outcome occurred in 287 (22.7%) patients. There was no association between care in the ED and readmission. During the index hospitalisation, readmitted patients had shorter ventilator, hospital and intensive care unit duration (P<0.05 for all). The primary outcome was associated with African-American race (adjusted OR 1.34 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.78)), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (adjusted OR 1.52 (95% CI 1.12 to 2.06)), diabetes mellitus (adjusted OR 1.34 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.78)) and higher illness severity (adjusted OR 1.03 (95% CI 1.01 to 1.05)).

CONCLUSIONS: Almost one in four mechanically ventilated ED patients are readmitted within 30 days, and readmission is associated with patient-level and institutional-level factors. Strategies must be developed to identify, treat and coordinate care for the most at-risk patients.