Frequency and factors associated with hospital readmission after COVID-19 hospitalization: the importance of post-COVID diarrhea, 2022, Freirea et al

Highlights
• 32% of the patients visited an emergency room after COVID-19 hospitalization.
• The rate of hospital readmission after COVID-19 hospitalization is high, in the present sample 10% of patients needed a second hospitalization in 6-months
• Patients with persistent diarrhea after COVID-19 discharge had two times more chance to have another hospitalization in the next 6-months.
Abstract

Purpose
The aim of this study was to describe the incidence and risk factors for hospital readmission and infection during the months after COVID-19 hospital admission.

Methods
This prospective study included adult patients who were hospitalized due to COVID-19 and had been discharged from April 2020 to August 2020. All patients had a medical evaluation with a structured questionnaire 6 to 11 months after hospital admission. The authors included only patients with confirmed COVID-19 by RT-PCR. Patients with pregnant/postpartum women, with a proven COVID-19 reinfection or incapable of answering the questionnaire were excluded.

Results
A total of 822 patients completed the follow-up assessment, and 68% reported at least one recurrent symptom related to COVID-19. The most frequent symptom was myalgia (42%). Thirty-two percent of patients visited an emergency room after COVID-19 hospitalization, and 80 (10%) patients required re-hospitalization. Risk factors for hospital readmission were orotracheal intubation during COVID-19 hospitalization (p = 0.003, OR = 2.14), Charlson score (p = 0.002, OR = 1.21), congestive heart failure (p = 0.005, OR = 2.34), peripheral artery disease (p = 0.06, OR = 2.06) and persistent diarrhea after COVID-19 hospitalization discharge (p = 0.02, OR = 1.91). The main cause of hospital readmission was an infection, 43 (54%). Pneumonia was the most frequent infection (29%).

Conclusions
The presence of symptoms after six months of COVID-19 diagnosis was frequent, and hospital readmission was relatively high.

Open access, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1807593222022918