Quality of care transition and its association with hospital readmission

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the quality of care transition for patients with chronic diseases and to verify its association with hospital readmission within 30 days after discharge. Method: Cross-sectional epidemiological study of 210 patients with chronic diseases discharged from a hospital in southern Brazil. The Care Transition Measure-15 (CTM-15) instrument was used, through a telephone contact and, in order to identify readmissions within 30 days, the hospital management system was consulted. Student’s t-tests analysis of variance and nonparametric Pearson or Spearman correlation tests were performed. Results: CTM-15 score was 74.7 (± 17.1). No significant association was found between the quality of care transition and hospital readmission. 12.3 % of the patients were readmitted, and 46.2 % of these readmissions were to the emergency service. Conclusions: The quality of the care transition for chronic patients from inpatient units to home, showed a satisfactory score. However, there was no association between the quality of care transition and hospital readmission within 30 days after discharge.