Chronic conditions and risk of in-hospital death

This study examined the relationship of in-hospital death and 13 conditions likely to have been present prior to the patient's admission to the hospital, defined using secondary discharge diagnosis codes.

1988 California computerized hospital discharge abstract data, including 24 secondary diagnosis coding slots, from all general, acute care hospitals.

The odds ratio for in-hospital death associated with each of 13 chronic conditions was computed from a multivariable logistic regression using patient age and all chronic conditions to predict in-hospital death.

All 1,949,276 general medical and surgical admissions of persons over 17 years of age were included. Patients were assigned to four groups according to the mortality rate of their reason for admission; some analyses separated medical and surgical hospitalizations.

Overall mortality was 4.4 percent. For all cases, mortality varied by chronic condition, ranging from 5.3 percent for coronary artery disease to 18.6 percent for nutritional deficiencies. The odds ratios associated with the presence of a chronic condition were generally highest for patients in the rare mortality group. Although chronic conditions were more commonly listed for medical patients, the associated odds ratios were generally higher for surgical patients, particularly in lower mortality groups.

Studies examining death rates need to consider the influence of chronic conditions. Chronic conditions had a particularly significant association with the likelihood of death for admission types generally associated with low mortality rates and for surgical hospitalizations. The accuracy and completeness of discharge diagnoses require further study, especially relating to chronic illnesses.