[Insert Table 1 here]
Risk factors for drug-related
readmissions
In the trial population, 582
(22%) patients experienced one or more drug-related readmissions within
12 months after hospital discharge.
Sixteen risk factors (HR
> 1) and three protecting factors (HR < 1) for
experiencing a drug-related readmission were identified (Figure 1). Risk
factors were related to age, previous hospital visits,
cardiovascular, liver, lung and
peptic ulcer disease in medical history, multimorbidity (i.e., higher
Charlson Comorbidity Index score), number of medications upon admission
and cardiovascular or lung disease as discharge diagnosis.
The individual risk factors with
the highest HRs were previous liver disease (HR 2.46, 95% CI
1.15–5.24), ischaemic heart disease as discharge diagnosis (HR 2.06,
95% CI 1.32–3.21) and previous
peptic ulcer disease (HR 1.86, 95% CI 1.10–3.14). Protecting factors
were previous dementia diagnosis
(HR 0.55, 95% CI 0.39–0.78), and urinary tract infection (HR 0.60,
95% CI 0.39–0.92) and injuries, intoxications and other complications
of external factors (HR 0.50, 95% CI 0.31–0.83) as discharge
diagnosis. Twelve risk factors and two protecting factors were
associated with all-cause readmissions (Supporting Information S3,
Figure A). The risk factor with the highest HR was tumour as discharge
diagnosis (HR 2.33, 95% CI 1.69–3.22). Five risk factors for
experiencing an all-cause ED visit were identified, with one or more ED
visits 12 months prior to admission having the highest HR (1.71, 95% CI
1.51–1.94; Supporting Information S3, Figure B).