Causes of delayed hospital discharge among adult clients: a scoping review

Abstract

Objective: To map the existing evidence on the causes of hospital discharge delays among adult clients. Methods: A scoping review was conducted. We searched in the Ebscohost’ plataform, in PubMed, and in grey literature, consulting the bibliographic references of the documents found. Results: From the 22 articles analyzed it was verified that the delay in hospital discharge is due to causes related to community resources, namely the lack of vacancies in health units, and social reasons; to organizational causes related to health care; to individual causes, standing out family and financial issues; culminating in organizational causes related to hospital management. Conclusion: The delay in hospital discharge is multifactorial. It’s necessary to monitor the hospitalization process, focusing on early discharge planning.