Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24394628›Full record

ArticleCritical care medicine2014

Hospital factors associated with discharge bias in ICU performance measurement.

Lora A Reineck, Francis Pike, Tri Q Le, Brandon D Cicero, Theodore J Iwashyna, Jeremy M Kahn

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Critical care medicine, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
29citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

29 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  11. Factors Affecting Discharge to Home of Medical Patients Treated in an Intensive Care Unit.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019
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  14. External validation of SAPS 3 and MPMAnnals of intensive care · 2017
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  19. Intensive Care Unit (ICU) - Managed Elderly Hospitalizations with Dementia in Texas, 2001-2010: A Population-Level Analysis.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2016
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Lora A Reineck1Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA. 2CRISMA Center, Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA. 3Department of Health Policy and Management, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA. 4Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. 5Center for Clinical Management Research, Ann Arbor VA, Ann Arbor, MI.
Francis Pike
Tri Q Le
Brandon D Cicero
Theodore J Iwashyna
Jeremy M Kahn

Funding

Translational Training Program in Pulmonary Biology and MedicineT32HL007563 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI Melanie Koenigshoff · 1985 to 2026
$12.3M
The role of long term acute care hospitals in prolonged mechanical ventilationR01HL096651 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI KAHN, JEREMY M · 2009 to 2018
$3.6M
Novel approaches to profiling hospitals on critical illness mortalityR01HL126694 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI KAHN, JEREMY M · 2015 to 2017
$1.1M
NHLBI NIH HHS 5T32HL7563NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL096651NHLBI NIH HHS R01HL096651NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL126694NHLBI NIH HHS T32 HL007563
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivePerformance assessments based on in-hospital mortality for ICU patients can be affected by discharge practices such that differences in mortality may reflect variation in discharge patterns rather than quality of care. Time-specific mortality rates, such as 30-day mortality, are preferred but are harder to measure. The degree to which the difference between 30-day and in-hospital ICU mortality rates-or "discharge bias"-varies by hospital type is unknown. The aim of this study was to quantify variation in discharge bias across hospitals and determine the hospital characteristics associated with greater discharge bias.

designRetrospective cohort study.

settingNonfederal Pennsylvania hospital discharges in 2008. PATIENTS: Eligible patients were 18 years old or older and admitted to an ICU.

interventionsNone. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN

resultsWe used logistic regression with hospital-level random effects to calculate hospital-specific risk-adjusted 30-day and in-hospital mortality rates. We then calculated discharge bias, defined as the difference between 30-day and in-hospital mortality rates, and used multivariable linear regression to compare discharge bias across hospital types. A total of 43,830 patients and 134 hospitals were included in the analysis. Mean (SD) risk-adjusted hospital-specific in-hospital and 30-day ICU mortality rates were 9.6% (1.3) and 12.7% (1.5), respectively. Hospital-specific discharge biases ranged from -1.3% to 6.6%. Discharge bias was smaller in large hospitals compared with small hospitals, making large hospitals appear comparatively worse from a benchmarking standpoint when using in-hospital mortality instead of 30-day mortality.

conclusionsDischarge practices bias in-hospital ICU mortality measures in a way that disadvantages large hospitals. Accounting for discharge bias will prevent these hospitals from being unfairly disadvantaged in public reporting and pay-for-performance.

Indexed as

BiasHospital MortalityCohort StudiesHumansIntensive Care UnitsLogistic ModelsPatient DischargePennsylvaniaQuality of Health CareReimbursement, IncentiveRespiration, ArtificialRetrospective StudiesRiskRisk FactorsSepsis

Identifiers

PMID24394628
PMCPMC7895487

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.