Functional Assessment of >18 Years Old Patients at Internal Medicine Ward—Relationship with In-Hospital and 30-Day Mortality

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the connection between the items included in the AVD-DezIs score (a questionnaire about basic and instrumental activities of daily living and other topics related to social and personal life) and in-hospital and 30-day mortality after discharge. Methods: Prospective cohort study of hospitalizations in the Internal Medicine ward from 2014 to 2020, including >18 years old patients with a fully completed AVD-DezIs. To identify in-hospital and 30 days mortality, univariate and multivariate logistic models were applied, including random effects if justified. Results: A total of 19,771 episodes of hospitalization were included. In the univariate analysis, except for the presence of isolation and financial insufficiency, all the items were predictors of mortality in-hospital or within 30 days after discharge. In multivariate analysis, older age, male sex, longer hospital stay, higher Charlson score, deficiency in all four activities of daily living, deficiency in meal preparation and housekeeping, presence of pain/depression, immobility, and malnutrition are associated with a higher probability of in-hospital death whereas older age, male gender, higher Charlson score, longer length of hospital stay, deficiency in personal hygiene, ambulation, and eating habits, as well as the presence of incontinence and malnutrition, are associated with a higher probability of 30 days after discharge death. Discussion/Conclusion: Except for isolation and financial insufficiency, all items were individually associated with the outcomes. When they are considered in conjunction and taking into account sex, age, comorbidities and length of stay, the predictive ability of in-hospital and 30 days mortality differed.

Keywords

• Activities of daily living
• Mortality
• In-hospital death
• Hospitalizations