Background and objectives: The hospital admission rate for children receiving chronic dialysis has been increasing over the last decade. Approximately one third of patients with ESRD age 0-19 years are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge. The objective of this study was to examine hospital readmissions among a cohort of children receiving chronic dialysis to identify factors associated with higher rates of 30-day readmission.
Design, settings, participants, & measurements: A retrospective cohort of index admissions was developed among chronic dialysis patients age 3 months to 17 years at free-standing children's hospitals reporting information to the Pediatric Hospital Information System between January 2006 and November 30, 2010, and followed until December 31, 2010. The primary outcome was any-cause 30-day readmission, and the secondary outcome was 30-day readmission for a cause similar to that of the index hospitalization.
Results: In this cohort, 25% of hospital admissions were followed by a readmission within 30 days. Children older than 2 years of age had a lower odds of readmission (odds ratio [OR], 0.6; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.5 to 0.8). Those receiving hemodialysis had a higher risk of readmission (OR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.0 to 1.4), and admissions >14 days were also more likely to be followed by a readmission (OR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.1 to 2.0). Approximately 50% of the readmissions were for a similar diagnosis as the index admission; however, the specific admitting diagnosis was not associated with readmission.
Conclusions: A significant number of admissions among children receiving long-term dialysis are followed by readmission within 30 days. Further investigation is required to reduce the high rate of readmissions in these children.