Objective. To determine the frequency of hospital re-admissions to an Inter
nal Medicine Department at a Community General Hospital as well as variable
s associated with them.
Methods. Analysis of hospital discharges during 1997. Data were provided by
the Coding and Filing Service, and included sociodemographic data and aspe
cts related to medical care to each patient, as well as discharge DRF accor
ding to the HCFA version. A logistic regression model was developed to iden
tify variables independently associated with early re-admission risk (less
than 30 days after discharge).
Results. The rate of early re-admission was 7.4%. The variables associated
with a higher risk of admission included age, a hospital stay longer than t
he mean at first admission, and AIDS-associated conditions and heart diseas
es as main discharge diagnoses.
Conclusions. Based on our data, we cannot consider the readmission rates as
a reliable index in itself to be assessed negatively, as some re-admission
s come unexpectedly and/or are unavoidable.