Discharge to Rehabilitation Oriented Care after Acute Hospital Stay; Association with Vulnerability Screening on Hospital Admission.

BACKGROUND: We assessed the vulnerability of patients aged ≥ 70 years during hospital admission based on the Short Dutch Safety Management Screening (DSMS). Screening of four geriatric domains aims to prevent adverse outcomes and may support targeted discharge planning for post-acute care. We explored whether the DSMS criteria for acutely admitted patients were associated with rehabilitation-oriented care needs.

METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included community-dwelling patients aged ≥ 70 years acutely admitted to a tertiary hospital. We recorded patient demographics, morbidity, functional status, malnutrition, fall risk, and delirium and used descriptive analysis to calculate the risks by comparing the discharge destination groups.

RESULTS: Among 491 hospital discharges, 349 patients (71.1%) returned home, 60 (12.2%) were referred for geriatric rehabilitation, and 82 (16.7%) to other inpatient post-acute care. Non-home referrals increased with age from 21% (70-80 years) to 61% (> 90 years). A surgical diagnosis (odds ratio [OR] 4.92, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.03-11.95), functional decline represented by Katz-activities of daily living positive screening (OR 3.79, 95% CI 1.76-8.14), and positive fall risk (OR 2.87, 95% CI 1.31-6.30) were associated with non-home discharge. The Charlson Comorbidity Index did not differ significantly between the groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Admission diagnosis and vulnerability screening outcomes were associated with discharge to rehabilitation-oriented care in patients > 70 years of age. The usual care data from DSMS vulnerability screening can raise awareness of discharge complexity and provide opportunities to support timely and personalized transitional care.