SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Patient-Reported New and Worsening Symptoms Associated With Post-Discharge Adverse Events

Pdf Summary

This study examined whether new or worsening symptoms after hospital discharge can predict adverse events (AEs) within 30 days. Researchers analyzed 260 patients discharged from a Boston community hospital between September 2018 and March 2020. Data came from manual electronic health record review and 30-day post-discharge phone calls, with two clinicians adjudicating both symptoms and AEs.<br /><br />The study compared two types of symptoms: patient-reported symptoms from calls, messages, and other communications, and clinician-documented symptoms from objective EHR notes. The main outcomes were the frequency of these symptoms and their association with post-discharge AEs.<br /><br />Several symptoms were linked to higher AE risk, and patient-reported symptoms were generally similar to clinician-documented ones. The strongest high-risk symptoms included fever or infection, swollen legs, shortness of breath, and gastrointestinal problems. In multivariate analysis, these high-risk symptoms together were strongly associated with post-discharge AEs.<br /><br />The findings suggest that patient-reported new or worsening symptoms may serve as early warning signs of complications after discharge. The authors conclude that remote symptom monitoring and care management programs focusing on specific symptom types could help detect adverse events earlier during care transitions.<br /><br />Limitations include the single-site design, small sample size, and incomplete out-of-network data.

Asset Subtitle

Anant Vasudevan

Meta Tag

Author List Abhishek Goyal, Anant Vasudevan, Anuj K. Dalal, Savanna Plombon

Category Research

Concept Patient-Reported Symptom

Concept Adverse Event

Concept Clinician-Documented Symptom

Concept New Symptom

Concept Worsening Symptom

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women's Hospital

Presenting Author Anant Vasudevan

Track Transitions of Care

Keywords

post-discharge adverse events

symptom monitoring

patient-reported symptoms

clinician-documented symptoms

hospital discharge

30-day follow-up

remote monitoring

care transitions

fever infection

shortness of breath

Patient-Reported Symptom

Adverse Event

Clinician-Documented Symptom

New Symptom

Worsening Symptom