Effect of a planned discharge intervention on readmissions of patients with heart failure AFRICA Study

Background. Heart failure (HF) is a disease with a high incidence, prevalence and mortality. It is the first cause of hospitalization in people over 65 years and 25% of patients are readmitted within 30 days. The implementation of various discharge transition plans has shown benefits with respect to readmissions, and there is no data in this regard in Uruguay. A study was designed to analyze the effect of a Scheduled Discharge Plan on readmissions in hospitalized patients with HE. Material and methods. Prospective, controlled and randomized study, including patients admitted to the medical services of the Hospital de Clinicas Dr. Manuel Quintela with a diagnosis of HE. Exclusion criteria: refusal to participate, cognitive disability, hospitalization <= 24 hours or death in hospital. Two groups (intervention and control) were randomized with 18-month follow-up. In the intervention group, a planned discharge plan was applied and the criterion of treating physician was applied in control. Readmissions, death and quality of life were recorded at 3, 6, 9, 12 and 18 months. A value of p <0.05 was considered significant. The student's T-test was used for independent samples. Results. 149 patients were included, 78 in the intervention group. There were 19 (24.4%) readmissions in the intervention group and 38 (53.5%) in the control group (RR 1.85 [CI 1.337-2.583] p <0.05). There were 6 deaths in the intervention group and 7 in the control group, (RR: 1,024 [CI 0.926-1.32] p = 0.640). The quality of life by Minnesota Test was 50.98; 49.71 and 49.07 in intervention at 3, 6 and 18 months respectively and 55.04; 55.32 and 54.91 in the control group, with a non-significant p value Conclusions. The implementation of a Scheduled Discharge Plan significantly reduces readmissions for HF. Given that it appears to be a cost/effective tool for the health system, it could have a beneficial impact on the quality of care for patients with HF.