SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Battling Social Risks and Its Impact on Healthcare Outcomes

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This study from Singapore General Hospital examined how common social risk factors are among hospitalized internal medicine patients and whether these risks affect healthcare use and costs.<br /><br />Using a physician-administered questionnaire, researchers screened admitted patients for 10 social risk factors. A patient was considered to have significant social risk if they had at least 2 of the 10 factors. The study also collected data on age, sex, medical conditions, frailty, need for social services, discharge transfer, length of stay (LOS), and healthcare costs.<br /><br />Among the patients studied, the mean age was 72.8 years and 35% were male. Overall, 33% were identified as having social risk. Patients with social risk were more likely to be male and to have frailty, cognitive impairment or dementia, psychiatric disease, or chronic kidney disease. Common issues in the high-risk group included social isolation, financial concerns, housing and transport problems, communication difficulties with healthcare providers, domestic safety concerns, and chronic stress or low mood.<br /><br />The findings showed that social risk was associated with worse healthcare utilization. After adjusting for other factors, social risk was linked to an excess hospital stay of 2.45 days and an additional cost of about USD 1,505 per admission, based on bed-day costs.<br /><br />The authors conclude that social risk is common in hospitalized patients and is associated with longer hospital stays and higher costs. They recommend early screening for social risks in hospitalized patients so that resources such as social prescribing or case management can be targeted more effectively.

Asset Subtitle

Rachel Huidi Peh

Meta Tag

Author List Aaron Qi Han Chua, Jeanne Li Wen Ng, Mei Ling Kang, Orlanda Qi Mei Goh, Poh Yong Tan, Rachel Huidi Peh, Tharmmambal Balakrishnan, Tse Yean Teo

Category Research

Concept Social Risk Factor

Concept Hospitalized Internal Medicine Patient

Concept Length of Stay

Concept Prevalence

Concept Physician-Administered Questionnaire

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Singapore General Hospital

Presenting Author Rachel Huidi Peh

Track Value in Hospital Medicine

Keywords

social risk

hospitalized patients

internal medicine

Singapore General Hospital

healthcare utilization

length of stay

hospital costs

frailty

social determinants of health

screening

Social Risk Factor

Hospitalized Internal Medicine Patient

Length of Stay

Prevalence

Physician-Administered Questionnaire