Causes & risk factors for unscheduled readmissions in the paediatric ward of a major public hospital

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Readmissions are often considered as an indicator of poor quality of care during previous hospitalization, although many of these are unavoidable or unrelated to the past admission. The identification of high-risk cases for readmissions and appropriate interventions will help not only reduce the hospital burden but also to establish the credibility of the hospital. So this study aimed to determine the readmission percentage in the paediatric wards of a tertiary care hospital and to identify the reasons and risk factors that can help minimize preventable re-hospitalizations. METHODS: This prospective study from a public hospital included 563 hospitalized children, classified as first admission or readmissions. Readmissions were defined as one or more hospitalizations within preceding six months, excluding scheduled admissions for investigations or treatment. Reason-wise, the readmissions were classified into various categories, based on the opinion of three paediatricians. RESULTS: The percentage of children getting readmitted within six, three and one month time from the index admission was 18.8, 11.1 and 6.4 per cent, respectively. Among readmissions, 61.2 per cent were disease-related, 16.5 per cent unrelated, 15.5 per cent patient-related, 3.8 per cent medication/procedure-related and 2.9 per cent physician-related causes. Patient- and physician-related causes were deemed preventable, contributing to 18.4 per cent. The proximity of residence, undernutrition, poor education of the caretaker and non-infectious diseases were associated with increased risk of readmission. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggest that readmissions pose a substantial burden on the hospital services. The primary disease process and certain sociodemographic factors are the major determinants for the increased risk of readmissions among paediatric patients.