Are Primary Health Care Visits Associated With Reduced Risk of Hospital Readmissions After Discharge From Geriatric Inpatient Departments? Evidence From Stockholm County

Abstract

Introduction/objectives: Primary health care visits post-discharge could potentially play an important role in efforts of reducing hospital readmission. Focusing on a single or a particular type of visit obscures nuances in types of primary care contacts over time and fails to quantify the intensity of primary health care visits during the follow-up period. The aim of this study was to explore associations between the number and type of primary health care visits post-discharge and the risk of hospital readmission within 30 days. Methods: A register-based closed cohort study. The study population of 6135 individuals were residents of Stockholm who were discharged home from any of the 3 geriatric inpatient departments, excluding those who were readmitted within the next 24 h. The dependent variable was hospital readmission within 30 days of discharge. The key independent variable was the number and type of primary health care visits in 30 days post-discharge. Cox-regression with time-varying covariates was employed for data analyses. Results: Approximately, 12% of the participants were readmitted to hospital within 30 days. There was no statistically significant association between number of primary care visits post-discharge and readmission (HR 1.00; 95% CI 1.00-1.01). Compared to no primary health care visit, no statistically significant association were found for administrative care related visits (HR 0.33, 95%CI 0.08-1.33), clinic visits (HR 0.93, 95%CI 0.71-1.21), home visits (HR 1.03, 95%CI 0.84-1.27), or team visits (HR 0.76, 95%CI 0.54-1.07). Conclusions: There were no associations between primary health care visits post-discharge and hospital readmission after geriatric inpatient care. Further studies using survey or qualitative approaches can provide insights into the factors that are relevant to post-discharge care but are unavailable in this type of register data studies.