Functional Status and Hospital Readmission After Pediatric Critical Disease: A Year Follow-Up

Area of Science:

• Pediatric critical care medicine
• Functional status assessment
• Hospital readmission research

Background:

• Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) survivors often experience functional decline.
• Understanding factors predicting hospital readmission is crucial for improving post-PICU care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the association between pediatric functional status at hospital discharge following PICU admission and subsequent hospital readmission within one year.
• To identify predictors of nonelective hospital readmission in children and adolescents post-PICU.

Main Methods:

• Prospective longitudinal study conducted in two tertiary hospital PICUs in South Brazil.
• Functional status was measured using the Functional Status Scale-Brazil (FSS-Brazil) at baseline and hospital discharge.
• Cox regression analysis was used to determine the hazard ratio (HR) for hospital readmission.

Main Results:

• Out of 196 patients, 39.3% showed functional decline (FSS-Brazil) at discharge.
• 38.3% experienced at least one nonelective hospital readmission within one year.
• FSS-Brazil rating at discharge was significantly associated with increased risk of hospital readmission (HR, 1.698; 95% CI, 1.016-2.838).

Conclusions:

• Functional Status Scale-Brazil (FSS-Brazil) rating at hospital discharge is a significant predictor of nonelective hospital readmission within one year.
• Age and length of stay also emerged as factors associated with a higher hazard of readmission.
• Implementing functional status assessments at discharge may aid in identifying high-risk pediatric PICU patients.