The type of primary caregiver has been associated with long-term outcomes after lung transplantation. There is no data on the impact of caregiver associated with hospital readmissions. Lack of social support is recognized as a contraindication for lung transplant. The purpose of this study is to determine if the relationship between the caregiver and the patient has an impact on readmissions within the first 30 days of discharge from transplant surgery.

Methods: A retrospective study was performed on patients that received lung transplant surgery at Mayo Clinic Florida between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2014. There were 76 lung transplant surgeries performed in that time period. Three patients expired during the transplant surgery hospitalization and were excluded from the analysis. One patient elected to receive follow up care at another transplant center after discharge and was excluded from the analysis. One patient received two lung transplants during the study period, only the first transplant episode was included in the analysis. Seventy-one patients were included in the final analysis. Twenty-nine patients received a single lung transplant and 42 received double lung transplant. The relationship between the patient and the caregiver was categorized as spouse, family member and non family member. Results were analyzed using Fisher Exact Test and Chi-Square.

Results: No significant difference was found in readmission rates due to patient-caregiver relationship (p=0.175) or number of caregivers used (p= 0.860).

Conclusion: The relationship between the caregiver and the patient showed no significant impact on readmissions within the first 30 days of discharge from lung transplant surgery. Further research may be required to identify other factors that may impact the 30 day readmission rate.

CITATION INFORMATION: Coco T, Keller C, Alvarez F, Erasmus D, Mallea J. Impact of Caregiver on 30 Day Readmission After Lung Transplant. Am J Transplant. 2017;17 (suppl 3).

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