30-day unplanned readmission rate in otolaryngology patients: A population-based study in Thuringia, Germany

PURPOSE: Analyze associations between patients’ characteristics and treatment factors with 30-day unplanned readmissions in hospitalized otolaryngology patients in the German Diagnosis Related Group (D-DRG) system. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed on 15.271 otolaryngology admissions of 12.859 patients in 2015 in Thuringia, Germany. The medical records of the 1173 cases (7.6%) with readmission within 30-days were analyzed in detail. RESULTS: The 30-day readmission was planned in 747 cases (4.9%) and was unplanned in 422 cases (2.8%). The median interval between primary and next inpatient treatment was 11 days. The principal diagnosis was the same as during the primary index treatment in 72% of the cases. The most frequent reasons for readmission were: Need for non-surgical therapy (31.2%), need for further surgery (26.3%), post-surgical complaints (16.9%), and recurrence of primary complaints (10.7%). The multivariate analysis revealed that discharge due to patient’s request against medical advice was a strong independent factor with high risk for unplanned readmission (Odds Ratio [OR] = 9.62]; confidence interval [CI] = 2.69–34.48). Surgery at index admission (OR = 3.33; CI = 1.86–5.96) was the second important independent risk factor for unplanned readmission. Unplanned readmission had more frequently a non-surgical treatment at readmission than a surgical treatment (OR = 3.92; CI = 2.24–6.84) and needed more frequently further diagnostics (OR = 2.34; CI = 1.34–4.11). The following index International Classification of Diseases (ICD) categories had the highest risk for unplanned readmission: Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes, ICD: S00-T98 (OR = 66.67; CI = 15.87–333.33), symptoms, signs, abnormal findings, ill-defined causes, not otherwise classified, ICD: R00-R99 (OR = 62.5; CI = 11.76–333.33), blood forming organ diseases, ICD: D50-D90 (OR = 21.276; CI = 3.508–125), and eye/ ear diseases, ICD: H00-H95 (OR = 12.66; CI = 4.29–37.03). CONCLUSIONS: The causes of unplanned 30-day readmission in German otolaryngology inpatients are multifactorial. Specific patient and treatment characteristics were identified to be targeted with health care interventions to decrease unplanned readmissions.