Bounce-Back: Predicting Acute Readmission From Inpatient Rehabilitation for Patients With Stroke

The aim of the study was to identify demographic, medical, and functional risk factors for discharge to an acute hospital before completion of an inpatient rehabilitation program and 7- and 30-day readmissions after completion of an inpatient rehabilitation program.

This cohort study included 138,063 fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries with a primary diagnosis of new onset stroke discharged from an inpatient rehabilitation facility from June 2009 to December 2011. Multivariate models examined readmission outcomes and included data from 6 mos before onset of the stroke to 30 days after discharge from the inpatient rehabilitation facility.

In the acute discharge model (n = 9870), comorbidities and complications added risk, and the longer the stroke onset to admission to inpatient rehabilitation facility, the more likely discharge to the acute hospital. In the 7-day (n = 4755) and 30-day (n = 9861) readmission models, patients who were more complex with comorbidities, were black, or had managed care Medicare were more likely to have a readmission. Functional status played a role in all three models.

Results suggest that certain demographic, medical, and functional characteristics are associated differentially with rehospitalization after completion inpatient rehabilitation. The strongest model was the discharge to the acute hospital model with concordance statistic (c-statistic) of 0.87.