CORR Insights (®): Are There Modifiable Risk Factors for Hospital Readmission After Total Hip Arthroplasty in a US Healthcare System?

Abstract

T HA is an effective, commonly performed procedure with a good cost-benefit ratio. However, up to 11% of patients are readmitted to the hospital soon after the procedure [2, 3, 9, 12]. As Paxton et al. summarized in the current study, patient risk factors for readmission after THA include age, male sex, black race, weight (obese and underweight status), poorly controlled diabetes, cardiac disease, patient comorbidities, longer hospital length of stay, discharge disposition, revision procedures, distance between hospital and home, and insurance coverage status [2, 9, 12]. Some of these factors, however, appear to be related to one another (such as health status and insurance coverage) and so they may not be truly independent variables. The rate of unscheduled readmissions is commonly used as an indicator in evaluating the outcome of arthroplasties, despite criticism of its use as a basis for assessing quality of care [6, 10]. The reliability of readmission coding in databases has also been disputed [7]. However, the readmission rate has been used as a key performance indicator [1, 4], and so it remains an important area of inquiry.