Chronic illness and hospital readmission rate by adult age groups

Abstract

Objective: The study provides a comprehensive assessment of readmission risks of patients by nonelderly adult and elderly age groups admitted with different chronic condition types and multiple chronic condition (MCC) burdens.

Methods: The study examines the all-cause readmission risks of hospitalized adult patients in 18-64 and 65 and above age groups admitted for any cause having three mutually exclusive chronic condition types: Ambulatory Care Sensitive Condition (ACSC); non-ACSC, and non-chronic. Using 2009 hospital discharge data from HCUP-SID of AHRQ, linked to the contextual and provider data from HRSA, a multilevel logistic regression model is applied on data pooled over 5 states adjusting for patient, hospital, and community characteristics.

Results: The hospitalized elderly with chronic ACSC has higher risks of readmissions than those without, or relative to the nonelderly with chronic ACSC. However, nonelderly adults faced steeper increases in risks of readmissions than the elderly in response to increased MCC burden, irrespective of types of chronic conditions.

Conclusions: A lower number of ACSCs is associated with higher reduction in the risks of readmission in the elderly than in the nonelderly adults. Management of chronic conditions in general is associated with reduced readmission risks across all age groups, more so for nonelderly adults.