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 < 0.001). Readmissions occurred at an accelerated pace during the first 15 days, followed by a 75-day period during which readmissions occurred at a rate comparable to that among the control patients. Among the patients who left AMA, being male and having a history of alcohol abuse were significant predictors of readmission within 15 days; however, these characteristics were common among the patients who left AMA. In the Cox proportional hazard models, leaving AMA was the only significant predictor of readmission (adjusted hazard ratio 2.5, 95% confidence interval 1.4-4.4).


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Hwang
Stephen W
SW
Inner City Health Research Unit and the Division of General Internal Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital and University of Toronto, Toronto, ON. hwangs@smh.toronto.ca
Li
Jianli
J
Gupta
Rajesh
R
Chien
Vince
V
Martin
Rochelle E
RE
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015285:Hospital-Patient Relations; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006786:Hospitals, Urban; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009864:Ontario; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016312:Treatment Refusal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data