Depressive Symptoms and Malnutrition are Associated with Other Geriatric Syndromes and Increase Risk for 30-Day Readmission in Hospitalized Older Adults: A Prospective Cohort Study

Background: Readmission in older adults is typically complex with multiple contributing factors. We aim to examine how two prevalent and potentially modifiable geriatric conditions – depressive symptoms and malnutrition – relate to other geriatric syndromes and 30-day readmission in hospitalized older adults. Methods: Consecutive admissions of patients >65 years to a general medical department were recruited over 15 months. Patients were screened for depression, malnutrition, delirium, cognitive impairment, and frailty at admission. Medical records were reviewed for intermediary events including poor oral intake and functional decline during hospitalization. Unplanned readmission within 30-days of discharge was tracked through the hospital’s electronic health records and follow-up telephone interviews. We use directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) to depict the relationship of depressive symptoms and malnutrition with geriatric syndromes that constitute covariates of interest and 30-day readmission outcome. Multiple logistic regression was performed for the independent associations of depressive symptoms and malnutrition with 30-day readmission, adjusting for variables based on DAG-identified minimal adjustment set. Results: We recruited 1619 consecutive admissions, with mean age 76.4 (7.9) years and 51.3% females. 30-day readmission occurred in 331 (22.0%) patients. Depressive symptoms (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.15-2.07), malnutrition (OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.14-2.23), higher comorbidity burden, hospitalization in the one-year preceding index admission, frailty, delirium, as well as functional decline and poor oral intake during the index admission, were more commonly observed among patients who were readmitted within 30 days of discharge (P<0.05). Patients with active depressive symptoms were significantly more likely to be frail (OR=1.62, 95% CI 1.22-2.16), had poor oral intake (OR=1.35, 95% CI 1.02-1.79) and functional decline during admission (OR=1.58, 95% CI 1.11-2.23). Malnutrition at admission was significantly associated with frailty, delirium, cognitive impairment and poor oral intake during hospitalization (P<0.05). In minimal adjustment set identified by DAG, depressive symptoms (OR=1.38, 95% CI 1.02-1.86) remained significantly associated with 30-day readmission. The association of malnutrition with 30-day readmission was attenuated after adjusting for age, ethnicity and depressive symptoms in the minimal adjustment set (OR=1.40, 95% CI 0.99-1.98, P=0.06). Conclusion: The observed causal associations support screening and targeted interventions for depressive symptoms and malnutrition during admission and in the post-acute period.

The cost of care for children hospitalised with Invasive Group A Streptococcal Disease in Australia

Background Invasive Group A Streptococcal (iGAS) disease exerts an important burden among Australian children. No Australian hospitalisation cost estimates for treating children with iGAS disease exist, so the financial impact of this condition is unknown. Aim To determine the minimum annual healthcare cost for children (< 18 years) hospitalised with iGAS disease in Australia from a healthcare sector perspective. Methods A cost analysis including children with laboratory-confirmed iGAS disease hospitalised at the Royal Children’s Hospital (Victoria, Australia; July 2016 to June 2019) was performed. Results were extrapolated against the national minimum iGAS disease incidence. This analysis included healthcare cost from the 7 days prior to the index admission via General Practitioner (GP) and Emergency Department (ED) consultations; the index admission itself; and the 6 months post index admission via rehabilitation admissions, acute re-admissions and outpatient consultations. Additional extrapolations of national cost data by age group, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ethnicity and jurisdiction were performed. Results Of the 65 included children, 35% (n = 23) were female, 5% (n = 3) were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, and the average age was 4.4 years (SD 4.6; 65% aged 0–4). The iGAS disease related healthcare cost per child was $67,799 (SD $92,410). These costs were distributed across the 7 days prior to the index admission via GP and ED consultations (0.2 and 1.1% of total costs, respectively), the index admission itself (88.7% of the total costs); and the 6 months post index admission via rehabilitation admissions, acute re-admissions and outpatient consultations (5.3, 4.5 and 0.1% of total costs, respectively). Based on a national minimum paediatric incidence estimation of 1.63 per 100,000 children aged < 18 (95%CI: 1.11–2.32), the total annual healthcare cost for children with iGAS in 2019 was $6,200,862. The financial burden reflects the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the occurrence of iGAS disease. Costs were concentrated among children aged 0–4 years (62%). Conclusion As these cost estimations were based on a minimum incidence, true costs may be higher. Strengthening of surveillance and control of iGAS disease, including a mandate for national notification of iGAS disease, is warranted. Trial registration The current study is a part of ongoing iGAS surveillance work across seven paediatric health services in Australia. As this is not a clinical trial, it has not undergone trial registration.

O-EGS05 The Prevalence of Bile Duct Stones in Patients Presenting with Acute Pancreatitis vs. Jaundice in a 5774 patient series. The Case for Single Session Surgical Management

Background There is increasing evidence that single session laparoscopic cholecystectomy with cholangiography and, when necessary and available, bile duct exploration offers optimal clinical outcomes and superior cost benefits to patients with suspected bile duct stones. There is a perception that preoperative endoscopic clearance of bile duct stones is necessary in patients presenting with pancreatitis and jaundice. However, most patients do not have severe disease and are fit for index admission surgical management. We aim to study the prevalence of bile duct stones in pancreatitis vs. jaundice and evaluate this management approach with regards to preoperative and operative parameters and postoperative outcomes. Methods Analysis of prospectively maintained database of 5774 consecutive laparoscopic cholecystectomies, cholangiography(IOC) with or without bile duct exploration was undertaken. Patients with suspected bile duct stones are referred to one firm with an intention of single surgical treatment in the index admission. Data of patients presenting with acute pancreatitis and obstructive jaundice was extracted. In the absence of suspected malignancy there was a limited role for preoperative MRCP and ERCP. The incidence of confirmed CBD stones requiring exploration, type of exploration, morbidity, re-operations and readmissions, hospital stay, number of episodes, and presentation to resolution intervals were compared in the two groups. Results Conclusions Single session surgical treatment of patients with acute pancreatitis and jaundice by specialist firms in the index admission (89% and 86% if previous admissions by other units is excluded) offers many advantages. MRCP and ERCP utilisation is minimised in favour of IOC; two thirds of pancreatitis patients and one third of jaundiced patients have no CBD stones. Simple transcystic explorations deals with most stones in both groups. The morbidity, open conversion, readmissions, retained stones and re-operations are low. Total hospital stay, number of treatment episodes and presentation to resolution are optimised and should persuade surgeons to avoid subjecting patients to multiple treatments.

P-BN57 The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on management of patients with acute uncomplicated gallstone pancreatitis

Background Current British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines suggest that patients presenting with acute uncomplicated gallstone pancreatitis should ideally undergo laparoscopic cholecystectomy during the index admission or within two weeks of discharge from hospital. COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the delivery of elective and semi-elective surgical services in the National Health Service (NHS) due to limited availability of theatre resources. The aim of this study was to evaluate compliance with the BSG guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the newly introduced `Hot’ lists at our centre. Methods Patients admitted with first presentation of acute uncomplicated gallstone pancreatitis between 01/03/19 and 25/02/21 were identified from electronic records. Pregnancy and lack of fitness for surgery were the exclusion criteria. Patients admitted between 01/03/19 and 31/12/19 were defined as the pre-COVID cohort. Those admitted between 23/03/20 and 25/02/21 formed the COVID cohort and had access to urgent gallbladder lists. Baseline characteristics, choice of imaging and timing of laparoscopic cholecystectomy were compared between the two cohorts using STATA software. Continuous variables were compared with Mann Whitney test and categorical variables were compared with Pearson’s Chi-Squared test. Results 53 patients were identified in the total cohort with 27 being hospitalised prior to COVID-19 outbreak and 26 presenting after the national lockdown. Baseline characteristics did not differ significantly between the two groups. Biliary imaging pathway was similar between the two cohorts and importantly there appeared to be no delays in radiological tests during the lockdown. The overall proportion of patients undergoing cholecystectomies remained similar between the two groups and percentage of patients having it during the index admission did not differ. However, patients undergoing cholecystectomy post discharge had a significantly shorter waiting time during the lockdown (p = 0.021) as they were prioritised on the ‘Hot lists’ created to meet the demands of reduced planned theatre service. Conclusions During the 2020 COVID pandemic our service for patients with uncomplicated gallstone pancreatitis continued to be delivered. Despite clinical pressures, there were no notable delays in biliary imaging. The introduction of the urgent operating lists has significantly reduced the time to laparoscopic cholecystectomy following admission for patients with acute uncomplicated gallstone pancreatitis during this period.

P-EGS01 Cholecystectomy after gall stone pancreatitis

Background According to the UK guidelines for the management of acute pancreatitis commissioned by the British Society of Gastroenterology, All patients presenting with gallstone pancreatitis should be considered for cholecystectomy when they are well enough to undergo surgery. In cases of mild biliary pancreatitis, cholecystectomy should ideally be performed during the index admission or within 2 weeks of discharge as interval cholecystectomy is associated with a significant risk of readmission for recurrent biliary events. In cases of severe gallstone pancreatitis, cholecystectomy may need to be delayed until collections have improved, unless the patient is well enough for surgery and the gallbladder is some distance from the collection Methods Methods Inclusion Criteria Exclusion Criteria Results 80 patients were collected during the study period, 96 % of them were classified as mild pancreatitis Cholecystectomy rate Total percentage of cholecystectomies performed for mild gall stone pancreatitis during index admission or within 2 weeks from discharge : 37% Percentage of early cholecystectomies for eligible patients (i.e.after ruling out unfit patients, patients declining treatment, previous cholecystectomy..etc) : 54% Re-admission rate Re-admission rate for early cholecystectomy patients : 7.4% Re-admission rate for delayed cholecystectomy patients : 20.7% Conclusions

VALIDATION OF A DYNAMIC RISK CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM FOR IN-HOSPITAL DEATH, BASED ON ELECTRONIC RECORDS OF NON-SURGICAL ADMISSIONS TO GENERAL HOSPITALS

Objective: To develop and validate a risk-classification system for in-hospital death, clinically useful for general hospital adult primarily non-surgical cases. Methods: Admissions for non-surgical conditions at 5 public general hospitals of Minas Gerais were included. Procedures: Build a predictive model for death during admission, using logistic regression; Create a severity index based on the independent effect of the selected variables, and then, validate its ability to predict in-hospital death during index admission; Validate the predictive scale by challenging it with a new dataset. Results: The final multivariate model included seven significant predictive variables: age, gender, diagnostic-related group, hospital of index admission, admission to the ICU, total length of stay, and unplanned surgical procedure. This model presented adequate fit and fair discriminative performance (AUC=0.78). Temporal validation with a new sample also presented an adequate fit, and the discriminative performance was again fair (AUC=0.76). Conclusions: A dynamic and clinically useful risk classification system for in-hospital death of non-surgical admissions has been validated.

Racial Disparities in 30-Day Outcomes Following Index Admission for COVID-19

We investigated racial disparities in a 30-day composite outcome of readmission and death among patients admitted across a 5-hospital health system following an index COVID-19 admission. A dataset of 1,174 patients admitted between March 1, 2020 and August 21, 2020 for COVID-19 was retrospectively analyzed for odds of readmission among Black patients compared to all other patients, with sequential adjustment for demographics, index admission characteristics, type of post-acute care, and comorbidities. Tabulated results demonstrated a significantly greater odds of 30-day readmission or death among Black patients (18.0% of Black patients vs. 11.3% of all other patients; Univariate Odds Ratio: 1.71, p = 0.002). Sequential adjustment via logistic regression revealed that the odds of 30-day readmission or death were significantly greater among Black patients after adjustment for demographics, index admission characteristics, and type of post-acute care, but not comorbidities. Stratification by type of post-acute care received on discharge revealed that the same disparity in odds of 30-day readmission or death existed among patients discharged home without home services, but not those discharged to home with home services or to a skilled nursing facility or acute rehab facility. Collectively, the findings suggest that weighing comorbidity burdens in post-acute care decisions may be relevant in addressing racial disparities in 30-day outcomes following discharge from an index COVID-19 admission.

1302. Duration of Antibiotic Therapy for Pneumonia Among Patients with Advanced Cancer: An Opportunity for Antibiotic Stewardship

Background Antibiotic therapy is common for hospitalized older adults (≥65 years) with advanced cancer.1 Pneumonia is prevalent, but data conflict about the benefits and harms of antibiotics in palliative care settings. To inform antibiotic stewardship protocols, we assessed the duration of therapy for non-ventilator-associated pneumonia (non-VAP) in older adults who received palliative chemotherapy for advanced cancer. Methods We identified older adults who received palliative chemotherapy from 1/1/2016 through 9/30/2017 at Yale New Haven Hospital and subsequently developed non-VAP during their index admission following receipt of palliative chemotherapy. Non-VAPs were defined per standardized criteria; 2 complicated pneumonias including those associated with abscess, bacteremia, subsequent VAP, necrotizing and fungal pneumonia, and organizing pneumonia were excluded. We determined the total duration of antibiotics, including both inpatient and post-discharge days of therapy, for each initial episode of non-VAP. Patients were then stratified by total duration of therapy ( &gt;7 days versus ≤ 7 days). Results We identified a total of 118 older adults who developed non-VAP during their index admission following receipt of palliative chemotherapy (Figure). Median age was 77.6 (range, 65.2 to 92.5), 37.2% were female sex, and the most common malignancies included lung (n=42/118; 35.5%), hematologic (n=28/118; 23.7%), gastrointestinal (n=17/118; 14.4%), and genitourinary (n=17/118; 14.4%) tumors. Overall, 83.0% (n=98/118) were prescribed &gt;7 days of therapy. Figure. Duration of therapy for non-VAP Conclusion 83.0% of older adults who developed non-VAP during the index hospitalization following receipt of palliative chemotherapy received a duration of antibiotics that exceeded guideline recommendations. This finding provides an opportunity for intervention to improve patient care and antibiotic stewardship in patients receiving palliative chemotherapy. Future studies are needed in larger cohorts to evaluate the implications of guideline-discordant therapy on readmissions and mortality. References 1. Marra et al. Antibiotic use during end-of-life care: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis. ICHE 2021;42:523-9. 2. CDC NHSN Patient Safety Component Manual, 2021. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

36. Clinical Features of and Risk Factors for 30-day Readmission after an Initial Hospitalization with COVID-19

Background Little is known about risk factors for readmission after COVID-19 hospitalizations. Knowledge of these factors may help to identify patients at increased risk and may help to prevent these rehospitalizations. Methods This historical cohort study was conducted at a tertiary care academic medical center. We included COVID-19 cases diagnosed by reverse-transcriptase polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assay between March 8th and June 14th, 2020. Patients readmitted within 30 days were identified. Using the electronic medical record, we collected data on demographic and clinical information. Data were analyzed using Student’s t-test, the chi-squared test and multivariable logistic regression. Results We included 391 patients who survived after the index hospitalization for COVID-19. The readmission rate was 13.3% (52/391). The mean time to readmission was 9.2 ± 7.9 days. The mean age (±SD) was 66.3 ± 18.6 years, 44.2% were male, and 78.8% were black/African-American. The most common presenting complaint was shortness of breath (50%). The most frequent diagnosis during the readmission was infectious process (57.7%). The mortality rate on readmission was 11.5%. Patients with a 30-day readmission were older than those not readmitted, mean age (±SD) 66.3 ± 18.6 vs. 61.0 ± 16.0, respectively (p=0.03). Readmitted patients also had a higher prevalence of heart failure and renal disease as comorbidities. Elevated alanine aminotransferase (AST) and low albumin level were also associated with readmission (Table 1). Intensive care unit (ICU) admission or mechanical ventilation during the index admission did not increase the risk of readmission. From multivariable analysis, independent predictors of 30-day readmission were higher Charlson score (p=0.004), higher creatinine on admission in the index hospitalization (p=0.009), and presence of rhabdomyolysis during the index hospitalization (p=0.039) (Table 2). Table 1. Univariable Analysis of Predictors for Readmission within 30 days from COVID-19 Infection Table 2. Multivariable Analysis of Predictors for Readmission within 30 days from COVID-19 Infection Conclusion In our cohort, infectious etiologies were common among those readmitted within 30 days of COVID-19. A higher Charlson score, acute renal failure, and rhabdomyolysis during the index admission were independent predictors of a 30-day readmission. Further studies are required to investigate these contributing factors. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

Effectiveness of acute geriatric unit care on functional decline and process outcomes among older adults admitted to hospital with acute medical complaints: a protocol for a systematic review

IntroductionOlder adults are clinically heterogeneous and are at increased risk of adverse outcomes during hospitalisation due to the presence of multiple comorbid conditions and reduced homoeostatic reserves. Acute geriatric units (AGUs) are units designed with their own physical location and structure, which provide care to older adults during the acute phase of illness and are underpinned by an interdisciplinary comprehensive geriatric assessment model of care. This review aims to update and synthesise the totality of evidence related to the effectiveness of AGU care on clinical and process outcomes among older adults admitted to hospital with acute medical complaints.DesignUpdated systematic review and meta-analysisMethods and analysisMEDLINE, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Controlled Trials in the Cochrane Library and Embase electronic databases will be systematically searched from 2008 to February 2021. Trials with a randomised design that deliver an AGU intervention to older adults admitted to hospital for acute medical complaints will be included. The primary outcome measure will be functional decline at discharge from hospital and at follow-up. Secondary outcomes will include length of stay, cost of index admission, incidence of unscheduled hospital readmission, living at home (the inverse of death or institutionalisation combined; used to describe someone who is in their own home at follow‐up), mortality, cognitive function and patient satisfaction with index admission. Title and abstract screening of studies for full-text extraction will be conducted independently by two authors. The Cochrane risk of bias 2 tool will be used to assess the methodological quality of the included trials. The quality of evidence for outcomes reported will be assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluations framework. A pooled meta-analysis will be conducted using Review Manager, depending on the uniformity of the data.Ethics and disseminationFormal ethical approval is not required as all data collected will be secondary data and will be analysed anonymously. The authors will present the findings of the review to a patient and public involvement stakeholder panel of older adults that has been established at the Ageing Research Centre in the University of Limerick. This will enable the views and opinions of older adults to be integrated into the discussion section of the paper.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42021237633.