Risk Factors and Patterns of Potentially Avoidable Readmission in Patients With Cancer

Patients with cancer are particularly at risk for readmission within 30-days after discharge. To identify the patients who might benefit from more-intensive discharge interventions, we identified the risk factors associated with 30-day potentially avoidable readmissions.

We included all consecutive discharges from the oncology division of an academic tertiary medical center in Boston, Massachusetts, between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2010. Potentially avoidable 30-day readmissions to the index hospital and two other hospitals within its network were identified. We performed a multivariable logistic regression in which the final model included variables found in bivariable testing to be significantly associated with the outcome.

Among the 2,916 patients discharged during the study period, 1,086 (37.3%) were readmitted within 30 days. Of these, 341 (31.4% of all readmissions, 11.7% of all discharges) were identified as potentially avoidable. In the multivariable analysis, the following patient factors were associated with a significantly higher risk of a potentially avoidable readmission: total number of medications at discharge, liver disease, last sodium level, and last hemoglobin level before discharge. In addition, potentially avoidable readmissions occurred significantly earlier than unavoidable readmissions (median, 10 v 13 days; P < .001).

Almost 40% of patients with cancer had a 30-day readmission, and almost one third of these were deemed potentially avoidable, and several risk factors for this were identified. Interventions at discharge may be prioritized to patients with these risk factors.