Article title: Utility of the READMIT Index to Identify Community Hospital 30-day Psychiatric Readmissions
Authors: Spinner, E. N., Stapleton, M., Oppenlander, J. E., Murray, E., Shaikh, R., and Ramkirpaul, E.
Journal: Issues in Mental Health Nursing
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01612840.2020.1814910
The first paragraph of the Discussion section was as follows:
The purpose of this study was to determine if the READMIT index and additional variables were associated with 30-day readmission for psychiatric patients in an urban, community hospital setting. Our findings do not support the clinical effort to administer the READMIT index. However, examining each of the components of the READMIT index score may isolate particular factors that could be addressed while a patient is hospitalized to prevent future readmission. Although this study determined the total scores using the READMIT index between the two readmitted and non-readmitted groups were not significantly different on average, there were variables within the index, e.g., “Unable to Care for Self” and “Lifetime Readmissions” that were associated with a greater likelihood of 30-day readmission. Also, the study found a higher Charlson Comorbidity score was associated with a greater likelihood of 30-day readmission. History of substance abuse and use of long acting antipsychotics were also associated with likelihood of readmission within 30 days.
The first paragraph of the Discussion section should read:
The purpose of this study was to determine if the READMIT index and additional variables were associated with 30-day readmission for psychiatric patients in an urban, community hospital setting. Our findings do not support the clinical effort to administer the READMIT index. However, examining each of the components of the READMIT index score may isolate particular factors that could be addressed while a patient is hospitalized to prevent future readmission. Although this study determined the total scores using the READMIT index between the two readmitted and non-readmitted groups were not significantly different on average, the variable “Lifetime Readmissions” was associated with a greater likelihood of 30-day readmission (p = .0046) which is consistent with literature. “Unable to Care for Self” was also a statistically significant difference between the two group, however, our findings point to a higher frequency of patients who were unable to care for themselves in the control group than patients who were readmitted within 30 days (p = .0005). Also, the study found that patients with diabetes and moderate to severe liver disease were more likely to be readmitted for acute psychiatric care within 30 days of initial discharge. Among variables not measured by the READMIT tool itself, history of substance abuse was found to be higher in readmission group (p = .0020).