Elder Self-Neglect Is Associated with an Increased Rate of 30-Day Hospital Readmission: Findings from the Chicago Health and Aging Project

Background/Aim: Elder self-neglect is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study is to examine the prospective relationship between reported elder self-neglect and the rate of 30-day hospital readmission in a community population. Methods: We conducted a prospective population-based study of community-dwelling older adults who participated in the Chicago Health and Aging Project. Of the 7,219 participants in the Chicago Health and Aging Project, a subset of 1,228 participants was reported to the social services agency for suspected elder self-neglect. The primary predictor was elder self-neglect reported to the social services agency. The outcome of interest was the annual rate of 30-day hospital readmission calculated from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid System hospitalization data from 1993 to 2009. Poisson regression models were used to assess these relationships. Results: The average annual rate of 30-day hospital readmission for those without elder self-neglect was 0.2 (SD 0.7) and for those with reported elder self-neglect 0.9 (SD 2.8). After adjusting for sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics, medical comorbidities, cognitive function, physical function, and psychosocial well-being, elders who self-neglect had a sigReceived: November 30, 2013 Accepted: February 18, 2014 Published online: October 7, 2014 XinQi Dong, MD, MPH Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, Rush University Medical Center 1645 West Jackson, Suite 675 Chicago, IL 60612 (USA) E-Mail xinqi_dong @ rush.edu © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel 0304–324X/14/0611–0041$39.50/0