Association Between Rural Residence and In-Hospital and 30-Day Mortality Among Veterans Hospitalized with COPD Exacerbations

Spyridon Fortis; Amy M J O'Shea; Brice F Beck; Alejandro Comellas; Mary Vaughan Sarrazin; Peter J Kaboli

doi:10.2147/COPD.S281162

Association Between Rural Residence and In-Hospital and 30-Day Mortality Among Veterans Hospitalized with COPD Exacerbations

Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2021 Feb 2:16:191-202. doi: 10.2147/COPD.S281162. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Spyridon Fortis^{1

2}, Amy M J O'Shea^{1

3}, Brice F Beck¹, Alejandro Comellas^{1

2}, Mary Vaughan Sarrazin^{1

3}, Peter J Kaboli^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Access & Delivery Research & Evaluation (CADRE), Iowa City VA Health Care System, Iowa City, IA, USA.
² Pulmonary, Critical Care and Occupational Medicine, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA, USA.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA.

Abstract

Background: We explored the relationship between rural residency and in-hospital mortality in patients hospitalized with COPD exacerbations.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed COPD hospitalizations from 2011 to 2017 at 124 acute care Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals in the US. Patient residence was classified using Rural Urban Commuting Area codes as urban, rural, or isolated rural. We stratified patient hospitalizations into quartiles by travel time from patient residence to the nearest VHA primary care provider clinic and hospital. Multivariate analyses utilized generalized estimating equations with a logit link accounting for repeated hospitalizations among patients and adjusting for patient- and hospital-level characteristics.

Results: Of 64,914 COPD hospitalizations analyzed, 43,549 (67.1%) were for urban, 18,673 (28.8%) for rural, and 2,692 (4.1%) for isolated rural veterans. In-hospital mortality was 4.9% in urban, 5.5% in rural, and 5.2% in isolated rural veterans (P=0.008). Thirty-day mortality was 8.3% in urban, 9.9% in rural, and 9.2% in isolated rural veterans (P<0.001). Travel time to a primary care provider and VHA hospital was not associated with in-hospital mortality among isolated rural and rural veterans. In the multivariable analysis, compared to urban veterans, isolated rural patients did not have increased mortality. Rural residence was not associated with in-hospital (OR=0.87; 95% CI=0.67-1.12, P=0.28) but was associated with increased 30-day mortality (OR=1.13; 95% CI=1.04-1.22, P=0.002). Transfer from another acute care hospital (OR=14.97; 95% CI=9.80-17.16, P<0.001) or an unknown/other facility (OR=33.05; 95% CI=22.66-48.21, P<0.001) were the strongest predictors of increased in-hospital mortality compared to patients coming from the outpatient sector. Transfer from another acute care facility was also a risk factor for 30-day mortality.

Conclusion: Potential gaps in post-discharge care of rural veterans may be responsible for the rural-urban disparities. Further research should investigate the exact mechanism that inter-hospital transfers affect mortality.

Keywords: chronic obstructive; epidemiology; mortality; pulmonary disease.

MeSH terms

Aftercare
Hospitals
Humans
Patient Discharge
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive* / diagnosis
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive* / therapy
Retrospective Studies
United States / epidemiology
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans*

Grants and funding

The work reported here was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Office of Rural Health, Veterans Rural Health Resource Center (Award # 14380), and the Health Services Research and Development (HSR&D) Service through the Comprehensive Access and Delivery Research and Evaluation (CADRE) Center (CIN 13-412).