Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28898930›Full record

SynthesisHealth expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy2018

Impact and experiences of delayed discharge: A mixed-studies systematic review.

Antonio Rojas-García, Simon Turner, Elena Pizzo, Emma Hudson, James Thomas, Rosalind Raine

Open access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 139 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
139citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
102.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
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

139 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 803 citations in OpenAlex.

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  7. Impact and experiences of delayed discharge: A mixed-studies systematic review.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2018
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  16. Failure to Re-identify and Manage Known Dementia Associated With Hospital Readmission and LOS: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society · 2026
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79 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Antonio Rojas-GarcíaNIHR CLAHRC North Thames, Department of Applied Health Research, University College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-7792-4311
Simon TurnerNIHR CLAHRC North Thames, Department of Applied Health Research, University College London, London, UK.
Elena PizzoNIHR CLAHRC North Thames, Department of Applied Health Research, University College London, London, UK.
Emma HudsonNIHR CLAHRC North Thames, Department of Applied Health Research, University College London, London, UK.
James ThomasInstitute of Education EPPI-Centre, University College London, London, UK.
Rosalind RaineNIHR CLAHRC North Thames, Department of Applied Health Research, University College London, London, UK.
National Institute for Health Research · GBUniversity College London · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe impact of delayed discharge on patients, health-care staff and hospital costs has been incompletely characterized.

aimTo systematically review experiences of delay from the perspectives of patients, health professionals and hospitals, and its impact on patients' outcomes and costs.

methodsFour of the main biomedical databases were searched for the period 2000-2016 (February). Quantitative, qualitative and health economic studies conducted in OECD countries were included.

resultsThirty-seven papers reporting data on 35 studies were identified: 10 quantitative, 8 qualitative and 19 exploring costs. Seven of ten quantitative studies were at moderate/low methodological quality; 6 qualitative studies were deemed reliable; and the 19 studies on costs were of moderate quality. Delayed discharge was associated with mortality, infections, depression, reductions in patients' mobility and their daily activities. The qualitative studies highlighted the pressure to reduce discharge delays on staff stress and interprofessional relationships, with implications for patient care and well-being. Extra bed-days could account for up to 30.7% of total costs and cause cancellations of elective operations, treatment delay and repercussions for subsequent services, especially for elderly patients.

conclusionsThe poor quality of the majority of the research means that implications for practice should be cautiously made. However, the results suggest that the adverse effects of delayed discharge are both direct (through increased opportunities for patients to acquire avoidable ill health) and indirect, secondary to the pressures placed on staff. These findings provide impetus to take a more holistic perspective to addressing delayed discharge.

Indexed as

Cross InfectionDelivery of Health CareDepressionHealth PersonnelHospitalsHumansLength of StayMortalityPatient Dischargecostdelayed dischargeimpactOECDoutcomequalitativesystematic reviewtimely discharge

Identifiers

PMID28898930
PMCPMC5750749
OpenAlexW2753964613

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.