Objective: To determine the frequency of hospital re-admissions to an Internal Medicine Department at a Community General Hospital as well as variables associated with them.
Methods: Analysis of hospital discharges during 1997. Data were provided by the Coding and Filing Service, and included sociodemographic data and aspects related to medical care to each patient, as well as discharge DRF according to the HCFA version. A logistic regression model was developed to identify variables independently associated with early re-admission risk (less than 30 days after discharge).
Results: The rate of early re-admission was 7.4%. The variables associated with a higher risk of admission included age, a hospital stay longer than the mean at first admission, and AIDS-associated conditions and heart diseases as main discharge diagnoses.
Conclusions: Based on our data, we cannot consider the readmission rates as a reliable index in itself to be assessed negatively, as some re-admissions come unexpectedly and/or are unavoidable.