Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify unplanned hospital re-admission risk factors in patients with respiratory tract diseases in Taiwan. This was a retrospective study. Study subjects were patients with primary diagnosis of respiratory tract diseases, which were defined by using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes. Eight hundred and seventy-six respiratory tract diseases patients were discharged from the hospital, and 14.78% (n = 64) of them were re-admitted within 14 days after discharge. Results found that unplanned hospital re-admission among respiratory tract diseases patients were statistical correlated with subjects’ ways of discharge from hospital, clinical re-visit compliance, receiving services from discharge plan team workers, intubation number, and previous hospital length of stay. The significant predictor was early re-hospitalization after discharge. However, results provide important information for measure intervention outcomes to prevent unplanned hospital re-admission among respiratory tract diseases. 

Key words: Unplanned hospital re-admission, respiratory tract diseases, risk factors.