Comparisons of risk-adjusted clinical outcomes for patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage across eight teaching hospitals in Japan

Objectives To assess predictive value of patient characteristics and severity of aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) patients for clinical outcomes, and thereby estimate risk-adjusted clinical outcomes and compare the outcomes across hospitals. Methods We selected 256 aneurysmal SAH patients from eight teaching hospitals in Japan. The clinical outcomes of patients at the time of discharge were assessed by the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS). A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictors for the GOS status at the time of discharge. The risk-adjusted proportion of patients with a favourable GOS outcome was then estimated for each facility and compared across hospitals. Results The logistic regression analysis revealed that younger age (P < 0.001), patients with good World Federations of Neurological Surgeons grade at admission (P < 0.001) and absence of chronic renal failure or ischaemic heart disease as a comorbid condition (P < 0.001) were identified as significant predictors for favourable GOS outcome at the time of discharge among aneurysmal SAH patients (C statistic = 0.88). We found that one hospital had significantly better outcomes than the others. Conclusion After comparison of risk-adjusted values across hospitals, the clinical management methods of the hospital that showed the best performance were examined and shared among providers.