PREVALENCE AND DETERMINANTS OF UNPLANNED READMISSION WITHIN 60 DAYS OF DISCHARGE FROM PAEDIATRIC WARDS OF THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL, IBADAN

Abstract

SUMMARY
Preventable hospital readmissions are currently regarded as potential indicators of quality
of care in clinical practice and cause of avoidable medical expenditures worldwide.
Understanding the dynamics of readmissions among Nigerian children has the potential to
alleviate some of the healthcare burden currently experienced and provide useful
information for planning child health. However, there is paucity of data on unplanned
paediatric readmissions in Nigeria. Therefore, this research was carried out to investigate
paediatric readmission and determine factors associated with 30-day and 60-day
readmission at a tertiary hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria.
In this hospital-based longitudinal study, all children admitted for the first time into any of
the paediatric wards at the University College Hospital Ibadan, were recruited
consecutively. Using a pre-tested questionnaire, information on socio-demographic
characteristics, diagnoses and admission outcomes was collected. All patients were
followed up till discharge or death. Information on the well-being and readmissions among
children discharged from the hospital was obtained over a 60-day follow up period via
telephone calls. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression at p
= 0.05.
Of the 758 children admitted during the study period (March to October 2015), 642
children were eligible to be recruited into this study and complete data were obtained for
568. Thus, 74 participants were excluded because of incomplete data at the end of the
study. There were 346 (60.9%) males and 222 (39.1%) females; admitted for duration
ranging from 1 to 82 days (median = 7 days). The ages of the study participants ranged
from 1 day to 15 years (median = 8 months).
All-cause 30-day unplanned paediatric readmission rate was 6.0% while that of 60-day
readmission was 8.8%. Age of children influenced both 30-day and 60-day readmissions
with infants and adolescents being more likely to be readmitted than other age groups.
Presence of complex chronic conditions increased the odds of readmission in all ages.
Prevalence of 60-day readmission to health facilities outside the University College
Hospital, Ibadan was 3.3%.

It is suggested that Paediatricians pay greater attention to assessment of infants and
adolescents, especially those with complex chronic conditions before discharge in order to
prevent early readmission.

PREVALENCE AND DETERMINANTS OF UNPLANNED READMISSION WITHIN 60 DAYS OF DISCHARGE FROM PAEDIATRIC WARDS OF THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL, IBADAN