Factors Associated with Readmission of Cardiovascular Patients: A Cross-sectional Study in Iran

Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death in both men and women around the world. Considering the heavy economic and social burden of readmission of cardiovascular patients on the patients and their families as well as the health care system, this study aimed at determining the factors associated with hospital readmission of cardiovascular patients in four public hospitals affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on cardiovascular patients hospitalized in public hospitals affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. A total of 264 patients were studied, 132 of whom had been readmitted and were selected through the census method. The other 132 patients had not been readmitted and were randomly selected through stratified sampling proportional to the size and simple random sampling method. The patients were examined using a questionnaire developed according to previous studies and experts' opinions. To analyze the data collected, we used the t-test, chi-square, Fisher’s exact test, Mann-Whitney test, and logistic regression through the SPSS 23.0 software.

The results showed that the following factors were associated with the readmission of the cardiovascular patients: being hospitalized 6 to 9 months before the current admission (OR=19.03, P-value<0.001), having arrhythmia (OR=6.34, P-value<0.001), having right ventricular dysfunction (OR=4.99, P-value=0.019), having fluid and electrolyte disorder (OR=3.89, P-value=0<0.001), undergoing angiography (OR=2.96, P-value=0.003), having chest pain (OR=2.42, P-value=0.014), having cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular co-morbidities (OR=1.45, P-value=0<0.001), and having non-elective admission (OR=2.10, P-value=0.034).

Given the influencing factors, management and follow-up of the patients, especially the high-risk ones, after discharge and providing them with the necessary training to prevent various complications could reduce their readmission rates.