Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2009;27(2):80-4.
doi: 10.1080/02813430802673501.

Differences in COPD-related readmissions to primary and secondary care hospitals

Pekka Lampela  1 , Olli Säynäjäkangas, Jari Jokelainen, Timo Keistinen
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Differences in COPD-related readmissions to primary and secondary care hospitals

Pekka Lampela et al. Scand J Prim Health Care. 2009.

Abstract

Objective: To study differences in readmissions to primary and secondary care hospitals for exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Design: A register-based study.

Subjects: The data were gathered from the hospital admissions register of the Finnish National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health. The data included all acute periods of treatment received by COPD patients aged over 44 years in 1996-2004 who had a principal or subsidiary diagnosis of COPD (ICD 10: J41-J44), respiratory infection (ICD 10: J00-J39, J85-J86) or cardiac insufficiency (ICD 10: I50), followed by an emergency readmission. Treatment had to have taken place in either a primary care hospital or a specialized ward for respiratory diseases or internal medicine in a secondary care hospital.

Main outcome measures: The risk of readmission within a week of discharge, analysed by site of care.

Results: The risk of readmission within seven days of discharge is 1.74-fold for a patient treated in primary care compared with a patient treated in secondary care.

Conclusions: COPD patients discharged from primary care hospitals have a greater risk of readmission, particularly within a week, than those discharged from secondary care. This risk may be attributed to differences in treatment procedures and arrangement of subsequent care. Thus, in the future, more attention should be paid to primary healthcare resources and staff training.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Relative risk of readmission for COPD patients within 1–7 days, 8–30 days, and 31–90 days of previous discharge in 1996–2004, by site of care (taking the risk of readmission in 1–7 days when treated in a respiratory diseases ward in a secondary care hospital as one).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Relative risk of readmission in 1–7 days for COPD patients in 1999–2004, by age group and site of care (taking the risk of readmission at age under 65 years when treated in a respiratory diseases ward in a secondary care hospital as one).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Sullivan SD, Ramsey SD, Lee TA. The economic burden of COPD. Chest. 2000;117:5S–9S. - PubMed
    1. Miravitlles M, Mayordomo C, Artes M, Sanchez-Agudo L, Nicolau F, Segu JL. Treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and its exacerbations in general practice. EOLO Group. Estudio Observacional de la Limitacion Obstructiva al Flujo aEreo. Respir Med. 1999;93:173–9. - PubMed
    1. Westert GP, Lagoe RJ, Keskimäki I, Leyland A, Murphy M. An international study of hospital readmissions and related utilization in Europe and the USA. Health Policy. 2002;61:269–78. - PubMed
    1. Cao Z, Ong KC, Eng P, Tan WC, Ng TP. Frequent hospital readmissions for acute exacerbation of COPD and their associated factors. Respirology. 2006;11:188–95. - PubMed
    1. Almagro P, Barreiro B, Ochoa de EA, Quintana S, Rodriguez CM, Heredia JL, et al. Risk factors for hospital readmission in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Respiration. 2006;73:311–17. - PubMed

Publication types