Differential characteristics of cases of patients diagnosed with pneumonia and delayed discharge for non-clinical reasons in Northern Spain.

Pellico-López, Amada; Fernández-Feito, Ana; Parás-Bravo, Paula; Herrero-Montes, Manuel; Cayón-De Las Cuevas, Joaquín; Cantarero, David; Paz-Zulueta, Maria

BACKGROUND Delayed discharge for non-clinical reasons is related to a failure to plan for discharge and a lack of availability of intermediate care resources as an alternative to acute hospitalization. The literature concerning the relationship with the pneumonia is scarce. At present, the coronavirus pandemic is a new cause of complicated pneumonias that can further affect the functionality of the most fragile patients. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to understand what characteristics are typical of patients affected by pneumonia, compared to other cases of delayed discharge. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted. All cases of delayed discharge were studied at the hospitalization units of a general university hospital in Northern Spain between 2007 and 2015. In order to compare the differential characteristics of the groups of patients with pneumonia with the total Student's T test and Pearson's chi-square test (χ²) were used. RESULTS 170 patients were identified with a diagnosis of pneumonia and delayed discharge for non-clinical reasons during the study period. These cases accumulated a total of 4,790 days of total stay, of which 1,294 days corresponded to the prolonged stay. The mean age of the patients was 80.23 years. The mean DRG weight was 2.28 [SD 0.579], and 14.12% of patients with pneumonia and delayed discharge died. So, patients with pneumonia were older (p =0.001), less complex (p =0.001) and suffered greater deaths compared to the remaining patients (p =0.001). CONCLUSIONS The sum of these factors has to do with comorbidities and complications associated with aging and the characteristics of conditions such as aspiration pneumonia.