The Risk Factors Related to Early Readmission to the Intensive Care Unit

Jang, Jin Nyoung; Lee, Yun Mi; Park, Hyo Jin; Lee, Hyeon Ju

doi:2019.12.1.36

J Korean Crit Care Nurs > Volume 12(1); 2019 > Article

Original Article

Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing 2019;12(1):36-45.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34250/jkccn.2019.12.1.36 Published online February 28, 2019.

The Risk Factors Related to Early Readmission to the Intensive Care Unit

Jin Nyoung Jang, Yun Mi Lee, Hyo Jin Park, Hyeon Ju Lee

¹Registered Nurse, Inje University Busan Hospital, Korea.
²Professor, Department of Nursing, Institute of Health Science, Inje University, Korea.
³Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing, Kyungnam College of Information & Technology, Korea.
⁴Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing, Tongmyong University, Korea. lhj209@tu.ac.kr

Received: 15 November 2018 • Revised: 25 January 2019 • Accepted: 31 January 2019

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to identify status and characteristics of patients who have been readmitted to ICU, and to analyze risk factors associated with the readmission to ICU within 48hours.
METHODS
Data were collected from patient's electronic medical reports from one hospital in B city. Participants were 2,937 patients aged 18 years old or older admitted to the ICU. Data were analyzed using odd ratios (ORs) from multivariate logistic regressions.
RESULTS
2.2% of the 2,937 patients were early readmitted to ICU. Risk factors for early readmission to ICU were existence of respiratory disease, use of mechanical ventilator, and duration of hospitalization (longer).
CONCLUSION
The assessment on the respiratory system of the patient who will be discharged from the ICU was identified as an important nursing activity. Therefore, the respiratory system management and education should be actively conducted. In addition, early ICU readmission may be prevented and decreased if a link was built to share the information on patient condition between the ICU and general wards.

Key Words: Intensive care unit, Patient readmission, Risk factor