Title

Characteristics and predictors of 7- and 30-day hospital readmissions to pediatric neurology

Publication Date

2019

Journal Title

Neurology

Abstract

© 2019 American Academy of Neurology. OBJECTIVE: Hospital readmission is an important quality improvement measure that has not been well-studied in pediatric neurology. We examined predictors of 7-day and 30-day readmissions for pediatric patients hospitalized with a neurologic diagnosis. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of hospital readmission rates in pediatric neurology patients admitted to a tertiary children's hospital from January 2017 to December 2017. Inclusion criteria were age ≤18 years and a primary neurologic diagnosis on admission, with an unplanned readmission within 7 or 30 days. Demographic and clinical data were collected, including age, sex, income, insurance type, discharge occurring on a weekend, admission to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), use of multiple antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), and involvement of multiple subspecialties. RESULTS: There were 923 neurology admissions, and 64 readmissions within 30 days. Total unplanned readmission rate was 6.9%, with 56% (36/64) readmitted within 30 days, 44% (28/64) readmitted within 7 days, and 11% (7/64) admitted multiple times within 30 days. The most common readmission diagnosis was seizure (62%), followed by other neurologic diagnosis (21%), headache (8%), encephalitis/meningitis (7%), stroke (1%), and ataxia (1%). Readmission was significantly associated with multiple AED, PICU admission, seizure with major complication or comorbidity, and presence of a major complication or comorbidity irrespective of diagnosis (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study identifies factors associated with higher rates of readmission for pediatric neurology patients. Patients with epilepsy and chronic neurologic conditions should be targeted for future discharge-related interventions to reduce hospital readmission and ensure safe transitions from the inpatient to the outpatient setting.

Volume Number

92

Issue Number

16

Pages

e1926 - e1932

Document Type

Article

Status

Faculty

Facility

School of Medicine

Primary Department

General Pediatrics

Additional Departments

Neurology

PMID

30894440

DOI

10.1212/WNL.0000000000007280

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