Neurologic illness prior to COVID-19 a predictor for acute-care hospital reencounters within 30 days and four months<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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MONDAY, May 24, 2021 (HealthDay News) — COVID-19 symptom exacerbation is the leading cause of early acute-care hospital reencounters (ACHEs) after COVID-19 hospitalization, according to a study published online May 21 in GeroScience<\/em>.<\/p>\n Jeffrey R. Clark, from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and colleagues characterized ACHEs, encompassing emergency department visits, observation stays, and hospital readmissions, following COVID-19 hospitalization and examined factors associated with these reencounters. The first 509 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 within a hospital network were identified, and ACHEs experienced within 30 days and four months of index hospitalization were examined.<\/p>\n The researchers found that 91.6 percent of the 509 patients were discharged alive from index COVID-19 hospitalization. Overall, 12.4 and 21.5 percent of patients experienced ACHEs within 30 days and four months, respectively, with a median of 24.2 days to first ACHE. The leading reason for an early ACHE was COVID-19 symptom exacerbation (44.8 percent). A history of neurological disorder before COVID-19 was associated with reencounters within 30 days and four months (odds ratios, 2.78 and 2.75, respectively). There was a trend toward more frequent ACHEs for older patients and those with diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or organ transplantation. Reduced odds of 30-day reencounter were seen in association with steroid treatment during COVID-19 hospitalization (odds ratio, 0.31). <\/p>\n “We were surprised to find that a history of neurologic disorders was the only comorbidity that predicted an increased risk for recurrent medical complications that required hospital-level care, both at 30 days and four months,” a coauthor said in a statement.<\/p>\n