Perceived Stress, Multimorbidity, and Risk for Hospitalizations for Ambulatory Care-sensitive Conditions: A...

Psychiatric disorders are associated with an increased risk for ambulatory care-sensitive condition (ACSC)-related hospitalizations, but it remains unknown whether this holds for individuals with nonsyndromic stress that is more prevalent in the general population.

To determine whether perceived stress is associated with ACSC-related hospitalizations and rehospitalizations, and posthospitalization 30-day mortality.

Population-based cohort study with 118,410 participants from the Danish National Health Survey 2010, which included data on Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale, followed from 2010 to 2014, combined with individual-level national register data on hospitalizations and mortality. Multimorbidity was assessed using health register information on diagnoses and drug prescriptions within 39 condition categories.

Being in the highest perceived stress quintile was associated with a 2.13-times higher ACSC-related hospitalization risk (95% CI, 1.91, 2.38) versus being in the lowest stress quintile after adjusting for age, sex, follow-up time, and predisposing conditions. The associated risk attenuated to 1.48 (95% CI, 1.32, 1.67) after fully adjusting for multimorbidity and socioeconomic factors. Individuals with above reference stress levels experienced 1703 excess ACSC-related hospitalizations (18% of all). A dose-response relationship was observed between perceived stress and the ACSC-related hospitalization rate regardless of multimorbidity status. Being in the highest stress quintile was associated with a 1.26-times insignificantly increased adjusted risk (95% CI, 0.79, 2.00) for ACSC rehospitalizations and a 1.43-times increased adjusted risk (95% CI, 1.13, 1.81) of mortality within 30 days of admission.

Elevated perceived stress levels are associated with increased risk for ACSC-related hospitalization and poor short-term prognosis.