Impact of nutritional status on DRG length of stay

A prospective audit of 100 admissions to a general medical unit was performed to determine the relationship of the initial nutritional status of the patients to the actual length of stay and hospital charges. These data then were compared with the allowed length of stay and estimated reimbursement under the prospective payment system of diagnosis-related groups (DRGs). Forty-five percent of the malnourished patients were hospitalized longer than that allowed under DRGs, compared to 30% for normal patients and 37% in the borderline group. The average length of stay was 15.6 +/- 2.2 days in the malnourished group compared to approximately 10 days in the other two groups (p less than 0.01). Although the estimated base DRG reimbursement was similar in all three groups ($4352-$5124), the actual hospital charges were significantly greater in the malnourished ($16,691 +/- 4389) and borderline ($14,118 +/- 4962) groups compared to normals ($7692 +/- 687), (p less than 0.01). The DRG system will have an adverse financial impact in the care of malnourished patients. It is suggested that early recognition of malnutrition and aggressive treatment may lead to a decrease in the length of stay and cost deficit incurred by malnourished patients.     

Relationship between nutritional status indicators and length of hospital stay for patients with diverticular disease.

The length of a patient's stay in a hospital is an indication of the patient's recovery rate. Length of hospital stay has also become an important economic factor for hospitals. This is especially true since 1983 as a result of implementation of the Prospective Payment System based on diagnosis-related groups. In this study, the results of routine laboratory tests of nutritional status were examined for relationships between nutritional status and the length of hospital stay. We conducted a retrospective analysis of 163 patients with diverticulosis and diverticulitis of the colon to determine which nutrition assessment parameters are sensitive in predicting recovery rate (length of hospital stay). We found that serum albumin level was negatively correlated with length of hospital stay. Women without gastrointestinal bleeding stayed an average of 20.1 +/- 8.5 days when serum albumin level was 30 g/L or less vs 11.2 +/- 10.5 days when it was greater than 30 g/L. Hemoglobin and/or hematocrit levels were also negatively correlated with length of hospital stay for this group. Women without bleeding stayed an average of 16.4 +/- 13.4 days when the hemoglobin level was 120 g/L or less vs 10.4 +/- 9.1 days when it was greater than 120 g/L. These results suggest that a patient's nutritional status upon admission has an effect on the length of hospital stay for patients with diverticular disease.     

Insurance status and length of stay for involuntarily hospitalized patients

General and private psychiatric hospitals are becoming increasingly common as sites for involuntary hospitalization. Unlike the public facilities that these settings are supplanting, these hospitals must pay strict attention to issues associated with reimbursement, insurance status, and managed care. This article examines the effects of insurance status on length of stay for involuntarily hospitalized patients in general and private hospitals in Massachusetts. Using a two-stage sampling procedure, data on episodes of involuntary hospitalization were gathered and assessed using multiple regression. The primary effect was found between patients with Medicare, who had the longest stays, and individuals who were uninsured, who had the shortest. The data raise concerns that warrant closer scrutiny on the part of administrators and clinicians.     

手术患者营养风险筛查及营养支持与术后并发症和住院时间的相关性

目的　分析普通外科手术住院患者的营养风险及营养支持情况,并探讨两者与患者术后并发症以及住院时间的相关性。方法　选取2014年1月至2015年2月河北医科大学第二医院853例普通外科住院患者为研究对象,采用营养风险筛查2002（NRS 2002）进行营养情况调查。根据患者是、否接受营养支持分成两组。记录患者的住院天数以及术后并发症,分析患者营养风险以及营养支持对并发症和住院时间的影响。结果　853例普通外科住院患者中,营养风险和营养不良发生率分别为311%（265/853）和54%（46/853）。术后     

Eating problems and nutritional status during hospital stay of patients with severe stroke

Eating problems and nutritional status were studied in a consecutive series of patients who had had strokes. From this cohort, 32 subjects (mean age 73 years) with a hospital stay of 21 days or more are described. Eating problems were identified by direct participant observations of the patients' eating behavior, interviews on admission, inspections of the mouth, and discussions with the patients. Nutritional status was assessed by weight, triceps skinfold thickness (TSF), arm muscular circumference (AMC), plasma albumin, serum transferrin, and plasma prealbumin on admission and then weekly. Eating problems were identified in 27 patients. In a general linear hypothesis program, poor nutritional status 3 weeks after admission was found to be associated with (in decreasing order) low self-care performance, poor nutritional status on admission, male sex, intravenous energy-containing fluids, advanced age, paresis of the right arm, and eating problems. Factors other than eating problems seem to be important for undernutrition in patients with strokes during hospital stay.     

Nutritional status and length of stay in patients admitted to an Acute Assessment Unit

BACKGROUND: The Redesigning Care initiative at Flinders Medical Centre aimed to improve access to timely, consistent, quality care. This led to the creation of an Acute Assessment Unit (AAU) where all patients are assessed by the Allied Health team on admission. This study aimed to: (i) determine the nutritional status of patients admitted to the AAU using the scored Patient Generated-Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA); and (ii) determine the association between nutritional status and length of stay (LOS). METHODS: A prospective, observational study was conducted in 64 patients (mean age 79.9 +/- 11 years, 76% female). Nutritional status was assessed within 48 h of admission and LOS data were collected prospectively. RESULTS: According to PG-SGA global rating, 53% (n = 34) of patients were malnourished. There was a weak association between PG-SGA score and LOS (r = 0.250, P = 0.046). The malnourished patients had a longer LOS by 1 day compared to well-nourished patients, and while this did not reach statistical significance (Z = -0.988, P = 0.323), it has implications for health care costs. LOS overall was short at a median of 4.5 days (range 1-24). CONCLUSIONS: A significant proportion of patients admitted to the AAU is malnourished. There was a trend for these patients to have a longer LOS, indicating a critical need for nutritional management; however LOS as a whole was short. While nutrition support in hospital is useful in reinforcing dietary education, the short LOS emphasized the importance of discharge education and follow-up.     

Nutrition status and risk factors associated with length of hospital stay for surgical patients

Objective: To diagnose the nutrition status of hospitalized patients and identify the risk factors associated with hospital length of stay (LOS). Methods: The subjective approach and the body mass index (BMI) were used to classify the nutrition status, and other indicators (anthropometry, biochemistry, and energy intake) were analyzed regarding their association with length of hospital stay of 350 patients. The chi‐square test was used to compare proportions, and the Mann‐Whitney or Kruskal‐Wallis test was used to compare continuous measures. Linear association was verified using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Cox's regression model was used to investigate factors associated with LOS. Results: Disease was the factor that influenced LOS the most in the studied population. Longer LOS prevailed in males (P < .0001), patients aged ≥60 years (P = .0008), patients with neoplasms (P < .0001), patients who lost weight during their hospital stay (P < .0001), and malnourished patients (P = .0034). There was a negative and significant, but weak, correlation between LOS and nutrition indicators (calf circumference, arm circumference, triceps skinfold thickness, subscapular skinfold thickness, arm fat area, lymphocyte count, and hemoglobin). Among adults, well‐nourished patients were 3 times more likely to be discharged sooner (P = .0002, RR = 3.3 [1.7–6.2]) than those who had some degree of malnutrition. Well‐nourished patients with digestive tract diseases (DTD) were also discharged sooner than malnourished patients with the same condition (P = .02, RR = 2.5 [1.1–5.8]). In patients with neoplasms, arm circumference was an independent risk factor to assess LOS (P = .009, RR = 1.1 [1.0–1.1]). Conclusions: LOS was associated with disease and nutrition status. Among the more common diseases, nutrition status according to the subjective approach determined the LOS for patients with DTD and nutrition status according to arm circumference determined the LOS for patients with neoplasms.     

Hospital stay length as an effect modifier of other risk factors for nosocomial infection

This paper addresses the problem of hospital stay length as a risk factor for nosocomial infection and as a modifier of the effect of other risk factors for hospital infection. Patients were selected form two cross-sectional studies done in two different seasons of 1986. Risk of infection rose fairly steadily as hospital stay lenght increased (correlation coefficient: 0,83, p<0.01). Several risk factors (operation, underlying disease, and age) were analyzed on the basis of 1) raw data and 2) data stratified by lenght of stay. The results showed that hospital stay lenght is a strong modifier of the remaining risk factors, generally reducing, their effect on the development of hospital infection as length of stay increases.Corresponding author.     

不同营养状况儿童白细胞端粒长度与血压的相关性分析

分析儿童端粒长度与血压水平以及血压偏高检出率之间的关联性,为有效预防儿童高血压提供参考.方法 在2012年卫生行业科研专项基线数据库中,按照体质量指数(BMI)筛选湖南、天津、辽宁、上海4省市7~12岁儿童253名,按照BMI水平分为正常体重(81名)、超重和轻中度肥胖(85名)、重度肥胖(87名)3组,采用实时荧光定量PCR方法测定白细胞端粒长度,并计算对数转换的端粒长度.采用Pearson相关分析端粒长度与血压水平之间的关联性.结果 采用美国国家高血压教育项目(NHBPEP)标准和中国高血压联盟(CHL)标准,253名7~12岁儿童的血压偏高检出率分别为15.81%和24.90%,男生分别为17.36%和28.93%,女生分别为14.39%和21.21%,男生均高于女生,差异均无统计学意义(P值均>0.05).基于NHBPEP标准,血压偏高组儿童的端粒检测长度(TLT)和对数转换长度(Log-TLT)分别为1.07和0.02,与正常血压组儿童长度(分别为1.09和0.03)差异均无统计学意义(P值均>0.05);基于CHL标准,血压偏高组儿童的端粒长度TLT和Log-TLT分别为1.09和0.03,与正常血压组儿童长度(1.08和0.03)差异均无统计学意义(P值均>0.05).男、女生呈现相同趋势,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05).在BMI正常、超重和轻中度肥胖、重度肥胖3组学生中基本呈现相同趋势.结论 儿童时期端粒长度与血压水平和血压偏高检出无明显的关联性,还需要进一步在成人人群中进行验证.     

Length of stay,conditional length of stay,and prolonged stay in pediatric asthma

OBJECTIVE: To understand differences in length of stay for asthma patients between New York State and Pennsylvania across children's and general hospitals in order to better guide policy. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: All pediatric admissions for asthma in the states of Pennsylvania and New York using claims data obtained from each state for the years 1996-1998, n = 38,310. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort design to model length of stay (LOS), the probability of prolonged stay, conditional length of stay (CLOS or the LOS after stay is prolonged), and the probability of readmission, controlling for patient factors, state, location and hospital type. ANALYTIC METHODS: Logit models were used to estimate the probability of prolonged stay and readmission. The LOS and the CLOS were estimated with Cox regression. Model variables included comorbidities, income, race, distance from hospital, and insurance type. Prolonged stay was based on a Hollander-Proschan "New-Worse-Than-Used" test, corresponding to a three-day stay. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The LOS was longer in New York than Pennsylvania, and the probabilities of prolonged stay and readmission were much higher in New York than Pennsylvania. However, once an admission was prolonged, there were no differences in CLOS between states (when readmissions were not added to the LOS calculation). In both states, children's hospitals and general hospitals had similar adjusted LOS. CONCLUSIONS: Management of asthma appears more efficient in Pennsylvania than New York: Less severe patients are discharged faster in Pennsylvania than New York; once discharged, patients are less likely to be readmitted in Pennsylvania than New York. However, once a stay is prolonged, there is little difference between New York and Pennsylvania, suggesting medical care for severely ill patients is similar across states. Differences between children's and general hospitals were small as compared to differences between states. We conclude that policy initiatives in New York, and other states, should focus their efforts on improving the care provided to less severe patients in order to help reduce overall length of stay.     

Impact of socioeconomic status on health care utilization: factors influencing length of stay

Using multivariate analysis, this study evaluates the relationship between socioeconomic status and hospital resource utilization as measured by length of stay for elderly Medicare patients, age 65 and older, within Shelby County, Tennessee. Variations in length of stay are compared across income groupings for seven different Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) and relative effects are measured for socioeconomic status, age, race, gender, discharge status, and severity of illness. Despite the lack of provider specific and patient specific information, the analysis does suggest that, once patients access the medical care system, socioeconomic status has a limited effect on discharge decisions. The results also indicate that the effect of administratively necessary days on length of stay needs further policy review.