Background and objective: Exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most frequent causes of hospital admission. We examined the results and feasibility of two programs conducted by a hospital respiratory unit aimed to reduce both the length of hospital stay and the number of hospital admissions for COPD acute exacerbation.
Patients and method: a) Assisted hospital discharge program: Patients admitted for acute exacerbation who met our criteria for early discharge were sent home with the support of a respiratory nurse. Home visits were carried out and direct phone contact with the nurse and physician was provided during a limited period of 6 weeks. Outcome variables studied were length of hospital admission and need for hospital reentry. b) Exacerbation prevention program: A group of patients with severe COPD and at least 3 hospital admissions for exacerbation during the previous year were included. These patients underwent an educational program and were given unlimited direct phone access to the respiratory nurse and physician. When necessary, home visits were carried out. The main outcome variable of this program was the number of hospital admissions.
Results: a) Assisted hospital discharge program: A total of 97 patients were included. The mean length of hospital stay was 5.4 1.7 days, which was significantly shorter than the previous average length of stay in our respiratory unit for a diagnosis of COPD exacerbation (8.52 days). The rate of hospital reentry was 17% (within the first 3 months). b) Exacerbation prevention program: 23 patients were enrolled. In this group, the number of hospital admissions decreased significantly from 5.0 1.8 to 1.7 2.4 per year (p = 0.001). Visits to the emergency department were also decreased, from 1.2 1.6 to 0.4 1.6 per patient (p = 0.05). Finally, the length of hospital stay decreased from 38 17 to 16 20 days (p = 0.0001).
Conclusions: A combined use of hospital resources and home care programs which are specifically addressed to severe COPD patients can reduce the need for hospital admission.