Study Results from Brown University in the Area of Information Technology Reported (Disparity In Risk of Readmission In Adult Burn Patients: Analysis of a Nationwide Readmission Database): Information Technology

2024 SEP 02 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A new study on Information Technology is now available. According to news reporting out of Providence, Rhode Island, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Burn injuries remain a significant cause of disability, impacting long term quality-of-life and imposing large costs on our health systems. Readmission is a metric of quality and an important contributor to this economic burden.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Brown University, “The association of socioeconomic and insurance status with burn readmission is not well established. The aim of our study is to develop a predictive risk model of factors associated with readmission after burns. Using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project’s 2018 Nationwide Readmission Database, we identified patients >= 18 y of age with burns admitted between January and October 2018. We excluded patients who died during index admission. Our primary outcome was readmission within 60 d postdischarge. We performed a Lasso regression analysis with adaptive selection to generate a predictive model with least deviance using patients’ demographics and socioeconomic status, burn location and severity, past medical history, and hospital characteristics. Weighted multiple logistic regression was performed to obtain population estimates of adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of each element in the model. Our cohort included 11,380 burn patients. Of those, 1625 (14.3%) were readmitted and 67% were males. Readmitted patients were older (55 f 17 versus 49 f 18, P = 0.0001). Weighted logistic regression for the selected model showed higher odds of readmission for patients with lowest income quartile (OR: 1.19, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04-1.36), Medicare or Medicaid insurance (OR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.17-1.55), history of psychiatric illness (OR:1.19, 95% CI: 1.02-1.39), diabetes (OR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.25-1.69), chronic kidney disease (OR: 1.66, 95% CI: 1.30-2.11), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR: 1.55, 95% CI:1.261.89), and alcohol use disorder (OR: 1.33, 95% CI: 1.13-1.58). Third degree burns and foot burns had higher OR of readmission (OR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.38-1.98 and 1.66, 95% CI: 1.02-1.45, respectively), while face and hand burns had lower OR of readmission (OR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.66-0.90 and 0.84, 95% CI: 0.72-0.98, respectively). Burn readmissions are multifactorial and directly related to the patient’s comorbidities, including markers that reflect barriers to care such as socioeconomic characteristics, as well as the anatomical location of burn injuries. Early identification of these high-risk patients may aid in early intervention, resource allocation, and outreach program development in an attempt to reduce readmission rates and improve outcomes. Future prospective validation of these risk factors is warranted. <feminine ordinal indicator > 2024 Elsevier Inc.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Disparity In Risk of Readmission In Adult Burn Patients: Analysis of a Nationwide Readmission Database. Journal of Surgical Research, 2024;301:534-539. Journal of Surgical Research can be contacted at: Academic Press Inc Elsevier Science, 525 B St, Ste 1900, San Diego, CA 92101-4495, USA. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Journal of Surgical Research - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-surgical-research/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Tareq Kheirbek, Brown University, Warren Alpert Medical School, Dept. of Surgery, Div Trauma & Crit Care Surg, Providence, RI, United States. Additional authors for this research include Melanie Anaya, Griffin J. Feinberg and Thomas L. Lopardo.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2024.07.001. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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