Affiliation:
1. University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine
2. Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences McMaster
3. Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences
4. Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University
5. Toronto General Hospital Research Institute and Department of Medicine
Abstract
Abstract
Background: Functional decline is common following acute hospitalization and is associated with hospital readmission, institutionalization, and mortality. Early physician follow-up has the potential to prevent poor outcomes and is integral to high-quality transitional care. Our study sought to determine whether functional decline was associated with post-discharge follow-up and whether this association changed following COVID-19, given that both functional decline and COVID-19 may affect access to post-discharge care.
Method: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using health administrative data from Ontario, Canada. We included patients over 65 who were discharged from an acute care facility during March 1st, 2019 – January 31st, 2020 (pre-COVID-19 period), and March 1st, 2020 – January 31st, 2021 (COVID-19 period), and who were assessed for home care while in hospital. Patients with and without functional decline were compared. Our primary outcome was any physician follow-up visit within 7 days of discharge.
Results:
Our study included 21,771 (pre-COVID) and 17,248 (COVID) hospitalized patients, of whom 15,637 (71.8%) and 12,965 (75.2%) had recent functional decline. Our propensity-weighted cohorts included 15637/15810 patients with/without function decline in the pre-COVID-19 period and 12965/13132 with/without functional decline in the COVID-19 period. Pre-COVID, there was no difference in physician follow-up within 7 days of discharge (Exposed 45.0% vs Unexposed 44.0%; RR=1.02, 95% CI 0.98 – 1.06). These results did not change in the COVID-19 period (Exposed 51.1% vs. Unexposed 49.4%; RR=1.03, 95% CI 0.99-1.08, Z-test for interaction p=0.72). In the COVID-19 cohort, functional decline was associated with having a 7-day physician virtual visit (RR 1.15; 95% CI 1.08 – 1.24) and a 7-day physician home visit (RR 1.64; 95% CI 1.10 – 2.43).
Conclusions: Functional decline was not associated with reduced 7-day post-discharge physician follow-up in either the pre-COVID-19 or COVID-19 periods. In the COVID-19 period, functional decline was positively associated with 7-day virtual and home-visit follow-up.
Publisher
Research Square Platform LLC