Factors associated with 30-day readmission for patients hospitalized for seizures

We sought to determine the cumulative incidence of readmissions after a seizure-related hospitalization and identify risk factors and readmission diagnoses.

We performed a retrospective cohort study of adult patients hospitalized with a primary discharge diagnosis of seizure (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition, Clinical Modification codes 345.xx and 780.3x) using the State Inpatient Databases across 11 states from 2009 to 2012. Hospital and community characteristics were obtained from the American Hospital Association and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. We performed logistic regressions to explore effects of patient, hospital, and community factors on readmissions within 30 days of discharge.

Of 98,712 patients, 13,929 (14%) were readmitted within 30 days. Reasons for readmission included epilepsy/convulsions (30% of readmitted patients), mood disorders (5%), schizophrenia (4%), and septicemia (4%). The strongest predictors of readmission were diagnoses of CNS tumor (odds ratio [OR] 2.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.9-2.4) or psychosis (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.7-1.8), urgent index admission (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.8-2.2), transfer to nonacute facilities (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.6-1.8), long length of stay (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.6-1.8), and for-profit hospitals (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.6-1.8). Our main model's c-statistic was 0.66. Predictors of readmission for status epilepticus included index admission for status epilepticus (OR 3.5, 95% CI 2.6-4.7), low hospital epilepsy volume (OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.3-0.7), and rural hospitals (OR 4.8, 95% CI 2.1-10.9).

Readmission is common after hospitalization for seizures. Prevention strategies should focus on recurrent seizures, the most common readmission diagnosis. Many factors were associated with readmission, although readmissions remain challenging to predict.