Personal factors contributing to readmission of patients with congestive heart failure

Nearly 5 million people in the United States have CHF, with more than 1.5 million new cases diagnosed each year. The readmission rate within 3-6 months after discharge in these patients is 10-50%. This study conducted to determine the personal factors contributing to readmission of patients with congestive heart failure that admitted in heart internal wards of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences Hospitals in 2008.

This study is correlation descriptive and 110 male and female patients with congestive heart failure selected with quota purposive sampling method and were divided into two groups based on their admission background in last 6 months to study. Data was collected by a questionnaire from the patients and referring to their folders and was analyzed by statistical tests and SPSS 15 software.

61.8% of patients were readmitted to the hospital during the last 6 months to study and age, literacy level and incoming level affected the readmission rate of patients. The relation of age was direct and literacy level and incoming level had indirect relation with readmission.

Some individual characteristics which are amenable to change, dramatically increases the risk for multiple hospital readmission in patients with CHF.