The Association of Diabetes and Hyperglycemia on Inpatient Readmissions

ABSTRACT Aim To evaluate the association between inpatient glycemic control and readmission in people with diabetes and hyperglycemia (DM/HG). Methods Two data sets were analyzed from fiscal years (FY) 2011-2013: hospital data using ICD-9 codes for DM/HG, and point of care (POC) glucose monitoring. Variables analyzed included gender, age, mean, minimum and maximum glucose, along with four measures of glycemic variability (GV) (standard deviation, coefficient of variation, mean amplitude of glucose excursions, and average daily risk range). Results Of the 66,518 discharges in FY 2011-2013, 28.4% had DM/HG based on ICD-9 codes and 53% received POC monitoring. The overall readmission rate was 13.9%, but rates for people with DM/HG were higher at 18.9% and 20.6% using ICD-9 codes and POC data, respectively. Mean glucose was higher in the readmitted group (169 ± 47 mg/dL vs. 158 ± 46 mg/dL) (p Conclusions People with DM/HG have higher thirty day readmission rates compared to those without. Those readmitted had higher mean glucose, more extreme glucose values and higher GV. To our knowledge, this is the first report of multiple metrics of inpatient glycemic control, including GV, and their association with readmission.