Lower Household Income Is Associated With An Increased Risk Of Hospital Readmission In Patients With Decompensated Cirrhosis

Background and Aim The impact of household income, a surrogate of socioeconomic status, on hospital readmission rates for patients with decompensated cirrhosis has not been well characterized. Methods The Nationwide Readmission Database from 2012 to 2014 was used to study the association of lower median household income on 30-, 90-, and 180-day hospital readmission rates for patients with decompensated cirrhosis. Results From the 42 679 001 hospital admissions contained in the sample, there were 82 598 patients with decompensated cirrhosis who survived a hospital admission in the first 6 months of the year. During a uniform 6-month follow-up period, 25 914 (31.4%), 39 928 (48.3%), and 47 496 (57.5%) patients were readmitted at 30, 90, and 180 days, respectively. After controlling for demographic and clinical confounders, patients residing in the three lowest income quartiles were significantly more likely to be readmitted at 30 days than those in the fourth quartile (first quartile, odds ratio [OR] 1.32 [95% confidence interval, CI, 1.17-1.47,P < 0.01]; second quartile, OR 1.25 [95% CI 1.13-1.38,P < 0.01]; and third quartile, OR 1.08 [95% CI 0.97-1.20,P = 0.07]). The association between lower socioeconomic status and the higher risk of readmissions persisted at 90 days (first quartile, OR 1.21 [95% CI 1.14-1.30,P < 0.01]) and 180 days (first quartile, OR 1.32 [95% CI 1.20-1.44,P < 0.01]). Conclusion Patients with decompensated cirrhosis residing in the lowest income quartile had a 32% higher odds of hospital readmissions at 30, 90, and 180 days compared with those in the highest income quartile.