Introduction: Smoking rates are up to 2-4 times higher among individuals with mental illness. Hospital readmissions for patients with psychiatric illness within a year of discharge are also high, and there is limited evidence of associations between smoking and these readmissions.
Methods: This study was a secondary data analysis using clinical data of psychiatric inpatients with initial admissions between the years 2000 and 2015. Following a descriptive analysis, logistic regression models were fitted to explore relationships between smoking and psychiatric hospital readmission within 30 days and a year of discharge.
Results: A total of 5439 patients with average age of 30.18 ± 15.97 were identified. Of this number, 47.0% were current smokers and 53.0% were never smokers. Within 30 days of discharge, 11% of the current smokers were readmitted compared to 9% of never smokers. The primary diagnoses with highest proportion of smokers were, opioid or substance use disorders (80.0%), schizophrenia (70.7%), alcohol dependence (68.2%), and bipolar disorders (50.8%). About 31% of current smokers were readmitted within one year of discharge compared to 26% of never smokers. Adjusted odds ratios for readmission within 1-year of discharge were, bipolar disorders (1.41, p = 0.01), schizophrenia (2.33, p < 0.001), and opioid/substance dependence (1.55, p = 0.01).
Conclusion: Significant relationships exist between smoking and readmission for patients with psychiatric illness. Smokers are more likely to be readmitted within 30 days or one year after discharge. Interaction of smoking and certain specific diagnoses significantly increases readmission.
Keywords: Psychiatric hospital readmission; Psychiatric illness; Smoking.