Association of geriatric-specific characteristics with postop readmissions

Editor's Note

In this study from the University of Virginia, new geriatric-specific characteristics were found to raise the risk of elderly surgical patients having unplanned readmissions within a month of leaving the hospital.

The four geriatric-specific risk factors for readmission include:

• cognitive impairment requiring another person to sign the patient’s consent form for surgery
• use of mobility aid
• risk of falling at discharge from the hospital
• need for skilled home health care after going home.

The results support screening patients on admission for use of a mobility aid or having a surrogate sign the surgery consent form, the researchers say.

The University of Virginia was one of 25 hospitals participating in this study (ie, Geriatric Surgery Pilot study), which the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) created in 2014 to collect risk factors and outcomes in surgical patients 65 and older.