Session Information
Session Title: Research Spotlight: Pandemic
Session Time: None. Available on demand.
Disclosures: Christopher W. Lewis, MD: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest
Objective: The relationship of demographic factors to discharge disposition in those patients admitted to an acute care hospital with COVID-19 infections is unknown. Our objective was to assess the pattern of discharge disposition and quantify the influence of each demographic factor.
Design: Retrospective cohort study.Setting : Tertiary acute care hospital.Participants : Between March 2020 and January 2021, 1,733 patients were admitted to acute care within 2 weeks of their first positive COVID-19 test and had the requisite demographic (i.e. sex, age, race/ethnicity, body mass index, and insurance provider) and discharge disposition data.
Interventions: Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures: Discharge disposition including home without services, home with services, skilled nursing facility (SNF), long-term acute care (LTAC), inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF), or acute care (AC) transfer.
Results: Of 1,733 patients discharged from acute care after hospitalization for COVID-19, 1,422 (82%) were discharged home without services, 183 (11%) home with services, 52 (3%) to a SNF, 15 ( < 1%) to an LTAC, 47 (3%) to an IRF, and 14 ( < 1%) to another acute care hospital. Among patients who were discharged home with or without home services, the mean length of stay was 0.74 days (n=1,605, SD 2.2) compared with 5.96 (n=128, SD 19.46) days for patients discharged to all other levels of services (p < 0.001). Patients had higher odds of discharge to SNF, LTAC, IRF, and AC than home with or without services if they were male (n=776, OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.22-2.53), age ≥65 (n=461, OR 4.47, 95% CI 3.09-6.47), black or African American (n=610, OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.01-2.36), BMI < 30 (n=816, OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.31-2.75), or used Medicare insurance (n=461, OR 4.87, 95% CI 3.16-7.52).Conclusions: Patient demographics are significantly associated with discharge disposition for patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Further delineation of factors that may be associated with long-term patient outcomes may provide the physiatrist predictive tools for resource planning.
Level of Evidence: Level IV
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Lewis CW, Jayabalan P, Dreyer SD, Baiju A. The Relationship Between Demographics and Discharge Disposition in Individuals Admitted to Acute Care with COVID-19 Infection [abstract]. PM R. 2021; 13(S1)(suppl 1). https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/the-relationship-between-demographics-and-discharge-disposition-in-individuals-admitted-to-acute-care-with-covid-19-infection/. Accessed May 28, 2025.« Back to AAPM&R Annual Assembly 2021
PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/the-relationship-between-demographics-and-discharge-disposition-in-individuals-admitted-to-acute-care-with-covid-19-infection/