Risk Factors for 60-Day Rehospitalization Among Home Healthcare Patients With Heart Failure and Diabetes

Heart failure (HF) is a complex chronic disease with multiple comorbidities, including diabetes. Patients with diabetes are at an increased risk of developing HF-a major adverse cardiovascular outcome-and the comorbidity of HF and diabetes is associated with worse outcomes than HF alone. Some HF studies show that diabetes contributed to increased risk for rehospitalizations, but there is limited evidence about risk factors for rehospitalization in home healthcare patients with both HF and diabetes. The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for 60-day rehospitalization in home healthcare HF patients with diabetes. This study is a secondary data analysis of a retrospective cohort study conducted using the Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS-C) version. In the final multivariable logistic regression model, the frequency of pain interfering with the patient's activity or movement and the patient's overall status were statistically significant. Patients with minimal pain interference (less often than daily) had about 60% lower odds of 60-day rehospitalization than those without pain interference (OR = 0.394), and patients facing temporary high health risk(s) had about 86% higher odds of rehospitalization than patients in stable conditions (OR = 1.861). Identifying risk factors for HF patients with diabetes in this study helps define their care needs in the home healthcare setting. However, future studies are warranted to use larger sample sizes to further assess which hidden factors drive rehospitalization among home healthcare HF patients with diabetes.