A cross-sectional study of factors predicting readmission in Thais with coronary artery disease.

Abstract

Coronary artery disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality with high readmission rates. Hospital readmissions for coronary artery disease contribute to rising healthcare costs and are a marker of quality of care. Despite this, prior studies have found that readmission rates vary widely. This study aims to determine the impact of social support, depression, comorbidities, symptom severity, quality of life and readmission among coronary artery disease patients in Thailand. A total of 321 coronary artery disease patients from tertiary care hospitals across all regions of Thailand were recruited for this study. Data were analysed using multiple regression analysis. The coefficient for social support (beta = -0.22) was found to be significant (p < 0.05), whereas comorbidity, symptom severity, depression and quality of life were not significant. Thus, social support was found to be the most significant predictive factor for readmission. Accordingly, when designing effective nursing interventions, nurses should promote social support interventions for coronary artery disease patients to improve the quality of care, decrease readmission rates and improve patients' quality of life.