HealthDay News — Inpatients diagnosed with diabetes who receive inpatient education about their disease have significantly lower frequency of all-cause hospital readmission within 30 days, retrospective study findings suggest.
Among 2,265 patients with poorly controlled diabetes (HbA1c >9%) who were hospitalized and discharged between 2008 and 2010, only 11% of those who participated in an inpatient hospital education program were readmitted at 30-days compared with 16% of those who did not (P=0.0001), Sara J. Healy, MD, from Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, and colleagues reported in Diabetes Care.
This finding remained significant even after adjusting for sociodemographic and illness-related factors the significant relationship persisted (odds ratio 0.66, P=0.001).
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Inpatient diabetes education was also linked to decreased readmissions within 180 days, but the correlation was attenuated. In the final 180-day readmission model (N=2,069 patients), independent correlations were seen for no inpatient diabetes education, black race, Medicaid or Medicare insurance, longer stay and lower HbA1c with increased hospital readmission.
“Prospective studies are needed to confirm this association,” the researchers concluded.
