Short-term mortality and palliative care use after delayed hospital discharge: a population-based retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES

In Canada, patients whose acute medical issues have been resolved but are awaiting discharge from hospital are designated as alternate level of care (ALC). We investigated short-term mortality and palliative care use following ALC designation in Ontario, Canada.

METHODS

We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study of adult, acute care hospital admissions in Ontario with an ALC designation between January and December 2021. Our follow-up window was until 90 days post-ALC designation or death. Setting of discharge and death was determined using admission and discharge dates from multiple databases. We measured palliative care using physician billings, inpatient palliative care records and palliative home care records. We compared the characteristics of ALC patients by 90-day survival status and compared palliative care use across settings of discharge and death.

RESULTS

We included 54 839 ALC patients with a median age of 80 years. Nearly one-fifth (18.4%) of patients died within 90 days. Patients who died were older, had more comorbid conditions and were more likely to be male. Among those who died, 35.1% were never discharged from hospital and 20.3% were discharged but ultimately died in the hospital. The majority of people who died received palliative care following their ALC designation (68.1%).

CONCLUSIONS

A significant proportion of patients experiencing delayed discharge die within 3 months, with the majority dying in hospitals despite being identified as ready to be discharged. Future research should examine the adequacy of palliative care provision for this population.

Increased demand for paramedic transports to the emergency department in Ontario, Canada: a population-level descriptive study from 2010 to 2019

Purpose

We examined changes in annual paramedic transport incidence over the ten years prior to COVID-19 in comparison to increases in population growth and emergency department (ED) visitation by walk-in.

Methods

We conducted a population-level cohort study using the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2019 in Ontario, Canada. We included all patients triaged in the ED who arrived by either paramedic transport or walk-in. We clustered geographical regions using the Local Health Integration Network boundaries. Descriptive statistics, rate ratios (RR), and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to explore population-adjusted changes in transport volumes.

Results

Overall incidence of paramedic transports increased by 38.3% (n = 264,134), exceeding population growth fourfold (9.4%) and walk-in ED visitation threefold (13.4%). Population-adjusted transport rates increased by 26.2% (rate ratio 1.26, 95% CI 1.26–1.27) compared to 3.4% for ED visit by walk-in (rate ratio 1.03, 95% CI 1.03–1.04). Patient and visit characteristics remained consistent (age, gender, triage acuity, number of comorbidities, ED disposition, 30-day repeat ED visits) across the years of study. The majority of transports in 2019 had non-emergent triage scores (60.0%) and were discharged home directly from the ED (63.7%). The largest users were persons aged 65 or greater (43.7%). The majority of transports occurred in urbanized regions, though rural and northern regions experienced similar paramedic transport growth rates.

Conclusion

There was a substantial increase in the demand for paramedic transportation. Growth in paramedic demand outpaced population growth markedly and may continue to surge alongside population aging. Increases in the rate of paramedic transports per population were not bound to urbanized regions, but were province-wide. Our findings indicate a mounting need to develop innovative solutions to meet the increased demand on paramedic services and to implement long-term strategies across provincial paramedic systems.

Rates of health services use among residents of retirement homes in Ontario: a population-based cohort study

BACKGROUND

Because there are no standardized reporting systems specific to residents of retirement homes in North America, little is known about the health of this distinct population of older adults. We evaluated rates of health services use by residents of retirement homes relative to those of residents of long-term care homes and other populations of older adults.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective cohort study using population health administrative data from 2018 on adults 65 years or older in Ontario. We matched the postal codes of individuals to those of licensed retirement homes to identify residents of retirement homes. Outcomes included rates of hospital-based care and physician visits.

RESULTS

We identified 54 733 residents of 757 retirement homes (mean age 86.7 years, 69.0% female) and 2 354 385 residents of other settings. Compared to residents of long-term care homes, residents of retirement homes had significantly higher rates per 1000 person months of emergency department visits (10.62 v. 4.48, adjusted relative rate [RR] 2.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.55 to 2.67), hospital admissions (5.42 v. 2.08, adjusted RR 2.77, 95% CI 2.71 to 2.82), alternate level of care (ALC) days (6.01 v. 2.96, adjusted RR 1.51, 95% CI 1.48 to 1.54), and specialist physician visits (6.27 v. 3.21, adjusted RR 1.64, 95% CI 1.61 to 1.68), but a significantly lower rate of primary care visits (16.71 v. 108.47, adjusted RR 0.13, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.14).

INTERPRETATION

Residents of retirement homes are a distinct population with higher rates of hospital-based care. Our findings can help to inform policy debates about the need for more coordinated primary and supportive health care in privately operated congregate care homes.

Homebound status among older adult home care recipients in Ontario, Canada

BACKGROUND

Homebound status is associated with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality in older adults, yet little is known about homebound older adults in Canada. Our objectives were to describe time trends in the prevalence of homebound status among community-dwelling long-term home care recipients and the characteristics associated with homebound status.

METHODS

This was a retrospective cross-sectional and cohort study using linked health administrative data in Canada's most populous province, Ontario. We included adults aged 65 years and older who received at least one long-term home care assessment from 2006 to 2017 (N = 666,514). Homebound individuals were those who exited the home an average of 0-1 days/week over the previous 30 days; not homebound comparators exited the home 2-7 days per week. We compared baseline characteristics between groups and estimated the association between these characteristics and homebound status at baseline and over time.

RESULTS

From 2006 to 2017, the annual proportion of long-term home care recipients who were homebound increased from 48% to 65%. At first assessment, 50% of the cohort (331,836 of 666,514) were homebound. Among those with a 4-12 month repeat assessment, homebound status persisted over time for 80%, and developed anew in 24%. Dependency on others for locomotion, use of an assistive device, poor access to dwelling, older age, and female sex were most strongly associated with homebound status at baseline, as well as its development and persistence over time.

CONCLUSIONS

We found that half of Ontario older adult long-stay home care clients were homebound at the time of their first assessment, and that the prevalence of homebound status among home care recipients rose steadily from 2006 to 2017. This informs further research and policy development to ensure the adequacy of supports for older homebound persons.

Incidence, Risk Factors, and Outcomes of Neonatal Renal Vein Thrombosis in Ontario: Population-Based Cohort Study

Background

There are limited data at a population level on the burden, risk factors, and long-term outcomes of neonatal renal vein thrombosis (nRVT). We conducted a population-based cohort study to understand the epidemiology and outcomes of nRVT over a 25-year period in Ontario.

Methods

Using linked administrative health databases, all hospitalized neonates ≤28 days born in Ontario between 1992 and 2016 with nRVT were identified. The primary outcome was to calculate the incidence of nRVT and trend over time in Ontario. We also determined the risk factors associated with nRVT as well as the risk of long-term outcomes after nRVT, including CKD, ESKD, all-cause mortality, and hypertension (HTN) compared with the healthy neonatal population without nRVT.

Results

The annual incidence rate of nRVT was 2.6 per 100,000 live births (n=85). Presence of respiratory distress syndrome (OR, 8.01; 95% CI, 4.90 to 13.1), congenital heart disease (OR, 9.1; 95% CI, 5.05 to 16.4), central venous catheterization (OR, 3.9; 95% CI, 1.89 to 7.93), maternal preeclampsia (OR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.6 to 4.79), and maternal diabetes (OR, 2.36; 95% CI, 1.36 to 4.07) conferred the highest risk for nRVT. Over a median follow-up of 15 years and after adjusting for confounders, neonates with nRVT versus the comparator cohort had a 15.5-fold risk of CKD, HTN, or death (n=49 [58%] versus n=90,050 [3%]; 95% CI, 11.7 to 20.6); 12.3-fold increased risk of CKD or death (n=39 [46%] versus n=32,016 [1%]; 95% CI, 8.9 to 16.8); and a 15.7-fold increased risk of HTN (n=33 [39%] versus n=64,458 [2%]; 95% CI, 11.1 to 21.1). None of the nRVT cohort developed ESKD. The median time to composite outcome of CKD, HTN, or death was 11.1 years.

Conclusions

Patients with a history of nRVT remain at higher risk than the general population for long-term morbidity or mortality, indicating the need for long-term follow-up.

Trends in very early discharge from hospital for newborns under midwifery care in Ontario from 2003 to 2017: a retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

Very early discharge from hospital is an element of Ontario midwifery care. Our aim in the present study was to describe the frequency of very early hospital discharge for newborns in Ontario midwifery care over time.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study, including all midwife-attended singleton term cephalic newborns delivered by spontaneous vaginal birth at Ontario hospitals between April 2003 and February 2017. Our primary outcome was very early hospital discharge (< 6 h after birth) for newborns. Secondary outcomes were pediatric consultation before hospital discharge, phototherapy before hospital discharge and readmission for treatment of jaundice. We used generalized linear mixed models to estimate the relation between maternal, neonatal and hospital factors and very early discharge, while accounting for clustering by hospital.

RESULTS

The study cohort included 101 852 newborns born at 89 hospitals. Between 2003/04 and 2016/17, the unadjusted rate of very early discharge decreased from 34.3% to 30.7%. This trend was not significant after adjustment for covariates (odds ratio 1.0, 95% confidence interval 0.99-1.0). Unadjusted rates of pediatric consultation, phototherapy and readmission for jaundice all rose slightly over the study period. Hospital-specific risk-adjusted frequencies of very early discharge ranged from 5% (n = 1479) to 83% (n = 3459) across the 75 Ontario hospitals with at least 100 newborns included in the study cohort.

INTERPRETATION

Hospital-level factors contributed to the observed decrease in crude rates of very early discharge for midwifery clients. Wide variation in these rates across Ontario hospitals points to room for improvement to make more efficient use of health care resources by promoting optimal levels of very early discharge.