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. 2018 Dec 17;19(1):360.
doi: 10.1186/s12882-018-1162-4.

Association of social worker-assessed psychosocial factors with 30-day hospital readmissions among hemodialysis patients

Olufunmilola Adisa  1 , Bernard G Jaar  2   3   4   5 , Tahsin Masud  6 , Abyalew Sahlie  6 , Catherine Obadina  1 , Joshua Ang  7 , Janice P Lea  6 , Laura C Plantinga  8   9
Affiliations

Association of social worker-assessed psychosocial factors with 30-day hospital readmissions among hemodialysis patients

Olufunmilola Adisa et al. BMC Nephrol. .

Abstract

Background: Evidence regarding the effect of psychosocial factors on hospital readmission in the setting of hemodialysis is limited. We examined whether social worker-assessed factors were associated with 30-day readmission among prevalent hemodialysis patients.

Methods: Data on 14 factors were extracted from the first available psychosocial assessment performed by social workers at three metropolitan Atlanta dialysis centers. Index admissions (first admission preceded by ≥30 days without a previous hospital discharge) were identified in the period 2/1/10-12/31/14, using linked national administrative hospitalization data. Readmission was defined as any admission within 30 days after index discharge. Associations of each of the psychosocial factors with readmission were assessed using multivariable logistic regression with adjustment for patient and index admission characteristics.

Results: Among 719 patients with index admissions, 22.1% were readmitted within 30 days. No psychosocial factors were statistically significantly associated with readmission risk. However, history of substance abuse vs. none was associated with a 29% higher risk of 30-day readmission [OR: 1.29, 95% CI: 0.75-2.23], whereas depression/anxiety was associated with 20% lower risk [OR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.47-1.36]. Patients who were never married and those who were divorced, or widowed had 38 and 17% higher risk of 30-day readmission, respectively, than those who were married [OR: 1.38, 95% CI: 0.84-2.72; OR: 1.17, 95% CI: 0.73-1.90].

Conclusions: Results suggest that psychosocial issues may be associated with risk of 30-day readmission among dialysis patients. Despite the limitations of lack of generalizability and potential misclassification due to patient self-report of psychosocial factors to social workers, further study is warranted to determine whether addressing these factors through targeted interventions could potentially reduce readmissions among hemodialysis patients.

Keywords: Hemodialysis; Hospital readmissions; Mental health; Psychosocial factors; Social worker.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Approval and oversight for this study was provided by the Emory Institutional Review Board (IRB00082448). Informed consent was waived for this secondary data analysis.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

LP and BGJ serve on the Editorial Board of BMC Nephrology. The authors declare that they have no other competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Selection of patient population
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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