Abstract

Background: Several studies have explored the distinct reasons supporting the impact of various factors on hospital readmissions for elderly pneumonia  patients. However, we could not find any review to identify the risk factor effect on this outcome. Thus, we did this study to assess the impact of various factors on the rate of hospital readmissions in elderly patients with pneumonia.

Methods: Systematic and comprehensive search was carried out in the following databases & search engines: EMBASE, Cochrane, MEDLINE, ScienceDirect  & Google Scholar from 1954 until December 2021. Newcastle Ottawa (NO) scale was utilized to assess the risk of bias. Meta-analysis was carried out using random-effects model and pooled odds ratio (OR) along with 95% confidence interval (CI) was reported.

Results: We included 6 studies comprising of 617,960 participants. Most studies had low risk of bias (good to satisfactory quality). Male gender (pooled OR = 1.19; 95% CI: 1.11-1.28), cancer (pooled OR = 1.68; 95% CI: 1.48-1.91), heart failure (pooled OR = 1.31; 95% CI: 1.20-1.42), chronic respiratory disease (pooled OR = 1.57; 95% CI: 1.23-1.99), chronic kidney disease (pooled OR = 1.50; 95% CI: 1.21-1.85) and diabetes mellitus (pooled OR = 1.15; 95% CI: 1.07-1.24) had significant association with hospital readmission rate among elderly pneumonia patients.

Conclusion: Male gender and chronic comorbid conditions were significant risk factors for hospital readmission among elderly pneumonia patients. Hence,  it is important for clinicians and policymakers to frame intervention strategies among the patients.