Readmission Rates, Episode Costs Increased for Patients With Dementia

MONDAY, March 20, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRD) have higher hospital readmission rates and episode costs than those without ADRDs, according to a study published online March 16 in JAMA Network Open.

Neil Kamdar, from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, and colleagues examined 30-day readmission rates and episode costs, including readmission costs for patients with versus those without ADRD in a retrospective study using 2012 to 2017 data. Overall, 66,676 admission episodes of care were identified for patients with ADRD along with 656,235 admission episodes of care for patients without ADRD. After propensity score matching, each group included 58,629 hospitalization episodes.

The researchers found that the readmission rates were 21.5 and 14.7 percent for patients with and without ADRD, respectively. Patients with ADRD had a higher cost of 30-day readmission ($8,378 versus $7,912, respectively). Total 30-day episode costs were $2,794 higher for patients with versus without ADRD across all 28 service lines examined ($22,371 versus $19,578).

"Patients with ADRD had higher readmission rates and overall episode costs than patients without ADRD. Avoidable hospitalization undermines the quality of life and longevity, possibly increasing the risk for adverse events for patients with ADRD," the authors write.

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