Risk Factors for One-Year Hospital Readmissions in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Abstract Objective: To reveal the characteristics and risk factors of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with frequent readmission to intervene early and improve the quality of care during initial hospitalizations. Methods: This was a single-center, retrospective case-control study involving 521 hospitalized patients with SLE from January 2014 to December 2016 in the Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University. Results: A total of 521 patients were enrolled, including 400 patients who were hospitalized once and 121 patients who were hospitalized repeatedly, and 23.2% of the patients were readmitted within one year. The results showed that the age of onset (odds ratio [OR] 1.022, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.007-1.036), serum albumin (OR 0.965, 95% CI 0.942-0.989), and cystatin C (OR 1.404, 95%CI 1.180 -1.670) were closely related to readmission. The most common causes of readmission were infections (52 cases, 27.08%), especially respiratory tract infections, and lupus activity or recurrence (45 cases, 23.4%). Conclusion: Special attention should be paid to SLE patients with older age of onset, low serum albumin levels, and high cystatin C levels to avoid infection and recurrence with the aim of reducing the hospital readmission rate.