Journal Article

The importance of sex as a risk factor for hospital readmissions due to pulmonary diseases

Bertoncello, Chiara, Buja, Alessandra, Viel, Guido, Cocchio, Silvia, De Battisti, Elisa, Ebell, Mark, De Polo, Anna, Furlan, Patrizia, Baldovin, Tatjana, Baldo, Vincenzo, Scapellato, Maria Luisa, Sperotto, Milena, Saia, Mario

2020

Overview

Background Pulmonary diseases are a common and costly cause of 30-day readmissions. Few studies have focused on the difference in risk for rehospitalization between men and women in older patients. In this study we analyzed the association between sex and the risk of readmission in a cohort of patients admitted to the hospital for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation and other major pulmonary diseases. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study based on administrative data collected in the Veneto Region in 2016. We included 14,869 hospital admissions among residents aged ≥65 years for diagnosis related groups (DRGs) of the most common disorders of the respiratory system: bronchitis and asthma, pneumonia, pulmonary edema, respiratory failure, and COPD. Multilevel logistic regressions were performed to test the association between 30-day hospital readmission and sex, adjusting for confounding factors. Results For bronchitis and asthma, male patients had significantly higher odds of 30-day readmission than female patients (adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 2.07; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.11–3.87). The odds of readmission for men were also significantly higher for pneumonia (aOR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.13–1.72), for pulmonary edema and respiratory failure (aOR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.05–1.55), and for COPD (aOR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.00–1.81). Conclusions This study found that male sex is a major risk factors for readmission in patients aged more than 65 years with a primary pulmonary diagnosis. More studies are needed to understand the underlying determinants of this phenomena and to provide targets for future interventions.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Aged / Aged, 80 and over / Ambulatory care facilities / Analysis / Asthma / Biostatistics / Bronchitis / Chronic obstructive lung disease / Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease / Comorbidity / Confidence intervals / Demographic aspects / Diagnosis / Diseases / Edema / Education / Elderly patients / Elderly people / Environmental Health / Epidemiology / Female / Gender / Health aspects / Health policies / Health services / Hospital admission and discharge / Hospitalization / Hospitals / Humans / Lung diseases / Lung Diseases - therapy / Male / Male identity / Medical research / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Men / Mortality / Obstructive lung disease / Patient outcomes / Patient Readmission - statistics & numerical data / Patient satisfaction / Pneumonia / Primary care / Public Health / Pulmonary disease / Pulmonary edema / Readmission risk / Regression analysis / Research Article / Respiratory failure / Respiratory insufficiency / Respiratory system / Respiratory tract diseases / Retrospective Studies / Risk analysis / Risk Factors / Sex / Sex differences / Sex differences (Biology) / Sex Factors / Studies / systems and management in high-income countries / Vaccine / Womens health