More drug complexity = greater risk of psychiatric readmission
Jul 10, 2020
Not many studies have directly examined the role of medication-related factors in psychiatric readmissions. Researchers from the USA sought to assess the impact of the medication regimen complexity index (MRCI) score in association with psychiatric hospital readmission frequency and time to readmission in a high-utilizer psychiatric cohort. Over a four year period, 168 subjects were identified if discharged from an inpatient psychiatry service with greater than or equal to 5 psychiatric readmissions or at least one 30-day readmission. Complexity of the medication regimen was determined using a validated MRCI electronic capture tool.The average MRCI for all readmissions was 7.09 for psychotropic medications, 5.90 for other prescription medications, 2.98 for over the counter, and 16.00 for total medications. Those people older than 65 years old and of female sex were had higher total MRCI scores. Average MRCI for psychotropic medications and average psychotropic medication count, along with depression diagnosis, were found to be significantly associated with average time between each readmission but not with readmission frequency. Higher total MRCI score (greater than 19.7) was associated with a shorter time to readmission. See full details of the study here.
