Hospital discharge abstract data on comorbidity improved the prediction of death among patients hospitalized with aspiration pneumonia

Objective: To use diagnoses reported as present at admission in California hospital discharge abstract data to identify categories of comorbid disease and conditions related to aspiration pneumonia and to assess their association with hospital mortality. Study Design and Setting: The study population included all persons hospitalized in California from 1996 through 1999, with a principal diagnosis of aspiration pneumonia. Present at admission diagnoses representing comorbid diseases were separated from conditions closely related to aspiration pneumonia by a physician panel through a computer supported Delphi process. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the probability of hospital death after adjusting for these patient characteristics. The statistical performance of this method was compared to the performance of two independent methods for measuring comorbid disease. The practical significance of differences in statistical performance was assessed by comparing the estimated effects of age, race, and ethnicity after adjustments using each method. Results: Mortality risk adjustment using present at admission diagnoses resulted in substantially better statistical performance and in different measurements of the adjusted effects of age, race, and ethnicity. Conclusion: Reporting present at admission diagnoses in hospital discharge data yields meaningful improvements in hospital mortality risk adjustment. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.