A study published in JAMA Network Open examines trends in 30-day readmission rates among patients with stroke.
Researchers analyzed the Nationwide Readmissions Database between Jan. 1, 2010, and Sept. 30, 2015. The database represents 50 percent of all US hospitalizations from 22 states. They included 2.07 million adult patients with a primary discharge diagnosis of intracerebral hemorrhage, acute ischemic stroke or subarachnoid hemorrhage in their analysis.
For the study, researchers classified hospitals as teaching hospitals if they had an American Medical Association-approved residency program or had a ratio of full-time equivalent interns and residents to beds of 0.25 or higher.
The study shows 30-day readmission was highest for patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (13.70 percent), followed by those with acute ischemic stroke (12.44 percent) and patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (11.48 percent).
On average, there was a 3.3 percent annual decline in readmission between 2010 and 2014. Patients discharged from nonteaching hospitals with high stroke discharge volume were at a significantly higher risk of 30-day readmission.
Researchers also found the top two reasons for readmission after a stroke treatment were acute cerebrovascular disease and septicemia.