Risk Factors for Discharge to an Acute Care Hospital From Inpatient Rehabilitation Among Stroke Patients

ObjectiveTo identify medical and functional health risk factors for being discharged directly to an acute-care hospital from an inpatient rehabilitation facility among patients who have had a stroke.DesignRetrospective cohort study.SettingAcademic medical center.ParticipantsA total of 783 patients with a primary diagnosis of stroke seen from 2008 to 2012; 60 were discharged directly to an acute-care hospital and 723 were discharged to other settings, including community and other institutional settings.Methods or InterventionsLogistic regression analysis.Main Outcome MeasurementsDirect discharge to an acute care hospital compared with other discharge settings from the inpatient rehabilitation unit.ResultsNo significant differences in demographic characteristics were found between the 2 groups. The adjusted logistic regression model revealed 2 significant risk factors for being discharged to an acute care hospital: admission motor Functional Independence Measure total score (odds ratio 0.97, 95% confidence interval 0.95-0.99) and enteral feeding at admission (odds ratio 2.87, 95% confidence interval 1.34-6.13). The presence of a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid−tiered comorbidity trended toward significance.ConclusionBased on this research, we identified specific medical and functional health risk factors in the stroke population that affect the rate of discharge to an acute-care hospital. With active medical and functional management, early identification of these critical components may lead to the prevention of stroke patients from being discharged to an acute-care hospital from the inpatient rehabilitation setting.