Patient-reported health literacy scores are associated with readmissions following surgery.
Brief health literacy screener
Health literacy
Readmission
Veterans affairs
Journal
American journal of surgery
ISSN: 1879-1883
Titre abrégé: Am J Surg
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 0370473
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
11 2020
11 2020
Historique:
received:
13
02
2020
revised:
05
05
2020
accepted:
26
06
2020
pubmed:
20
7
2020
medline:
5
1
2021
entrez:
20
7
2020
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Health literacy (HL) impacts medical care. We hypothesized that patients with low HL would have higher readmission rates following surgery. We conducted a prospective, multi-institutional study from 8/2015-6/2017 within the Veterans Affairs (VA) System including veterans who underwent general, vascular, or thoracic surgery. HL was assessed by Brief Health Literacy Screener and stratified into adequate vs. low. Patients were followed for 30 days post-discharge. Multivariable analyses examined correlations and logistic regression models adjusted for covariates. 736 patients were enrolled in the study; 98% (n = 722) completed the HL survey. At discharge, 33.2% of patients had low HL. The overall 30-day readmission rate was 16.3%, with a significant difference by HL (Adequate HL: 13.3% vs. Low HL: 22.5%, p < 0.01). After adjusting for clinical and demographic covariates, patients with low HL were 59% more likely to be readmitted (OR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.02-2.50). Low HL is common among VA surgery patients and is associated with readmission. Future studies should be focused on interventions to target this vulnerable patient population.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
Health literacy (HL) impacts medical care. We hypothesized that patients with low HL would have higher readmission rates following surgery.
METHODS
We conducted a prospective, multi-institutional study from 8/2015-6/2017 within the Veterans Affairs (VA) System including veterans who underwent general, vascular, or thoracic surgery. HL was assessed by Brief Health Literacy Screener and stratified into adequate vs. low. Patients were followed for 30 days post-discharge. Multivariable analyses examined correlations and logistic regression models adjusted for covariates.
RESULTS
736 patients were enrolled in the study; 98% (n = 722) completed the HL survey. At discharge, 33.2% of patients had low HL. The overall 30-day readmission rate was 16.3%, with a significant difference by HL (Adequate HL: 13.3% vs. Low HL: 22.5%, p < 0.01). After adjusting for clinical and demographic covariates, patients with low HL were 59% more likely to be readmitted (OR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.02-2.50).
CONCLUSION
Low HL is common among VA surgery patients and is associated with readmission. Future studies should be focused on interventions to target this vulnerable patient population.
Identifiants
pubmed: 32682501
pii: S0002-9610(20)30425-6
doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2020.06.071
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Multicenter Study
Observational Study
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
1138-1144Commentaires et corrections
Type : CommentIn
Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
Declaration of competing interest We have no conflicts of interests to disclose.