What happens to patients who leave hospital against medical advice

Background: Patients who leave hospital against medical advice (AMA) may be at risk of adverse health outcomes and readmission. In this study we examined rates of readmission and predictors of readmission among patients leaving hospital AMA. Methods: We prospectively studied 97 consecutive patients who left the general medicine service of an urban teaching hospital AMA. Each patient was matched according to age, sex and primary diagnosis with a control patient who was discharged routinely. Readmission rates were examined using Kaplan–Meier analysis. Regression models were used to test the hypothesis that readmissions among patients discharged AMA followed a biphasic curve. Results: Patients who left AMA were much more likely than the control patients to be readmitted within 15 days (21% v. 3%, p Interpretation: The significantly increased risk of readmission among general medicine patients who leave hospital AMA is concentrated in the first 2 weeks after discharge. However, it is difficult to identify which patients will likely be readmitted.