Risk of Bleeding Associated With Outpatient Use of Rivaroxaban in VTE Management at a National Referral Hospital in Western Kenya.

There is limited data on the bleeding safety profile of direct oral anticoagulants, such as rivaroxaban, in low- and middle-income country settings like Kenya. In this prospective observational study, patients newly started on rivaroxaban or switching to rivaroxaban from warfarin for the management of venous thromboembolism (VTE) within the national referral hospital in western Kenya were assessed to determine the frequency of bleeding during treatment. Bleeding events were assessed at the 1- and 3-month visits, as well as at the end of follow-up. The International Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis (ISTH) and the Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) criteria were used to categorize the bleeding events, and descriptive statistics were used to summarize categorical variables. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression model was used to calculate unadjusted and adjusted associations between patient characteristics and bleeding. The frequency of any type of bleeding was 14.4% (95% CI: 9.3%-20.8%) for an incidence rate of 30.9 bleeding events (95% CI: 20.1-45.6) per 100 patient-years of follow-up. The frequency of major bleeding was 1.9% while that of clinically relevant non-major bleeding was 13.8%. In the multivariate logistic regression model, being a beneficiary of the national insurance plan was associated with a lower risk of bleeding, while being unemployed was associated with a higher bleeding risk. The use of rivaroxaban in the management of VTE was associated with a higher frequency of bleeding. These findings warrant confirmation in larger and more targeted investigations in a similar population.

Causes and timing of 30-day rehospitalization from skilled nursing facilities after a hospital admission for pneumonia or sepsis.

BACKGROUND: Pneumonia and sepsis are among the most common causes of hospitalization in the United States and often result in discharges to a skilled nursing facility (SNF) for rehabilitation. We described the timing and most common causes of 30-day unplanned hospital readmission following an index hospitalization for pneumonia or sepsis. METHODS AND FINDINGS: This national retrospective cohort study included adults ≥65 years who were hospitalized for pneumonia or sepsis and were discharged to a SNF between July 1, 2012 and July 4, 2015. We quantified the ten most common 30-day unplanned readmission diagnoses and estimated the daily risk of first unplanned rehospitalization for four causes of readmission (circulatory, infectious, respiratory, and genitourinary). The index hospitalization was pneumonia for 92,153 SNF stays and sepsis for 452,254 SNF stays. Of these SNF stays, 20.9% and 25.9%, respectively, resulted in a 30-day unplanned readmission. Overall, septicemia was the single most common readmission diagnosis for residents with an index hospitalization for pneumonia (16.7% of 30-day readmissions) and sepsis (22.4% of 30-day readmissions). The mean time to unplanned readmission was approximately 14 days overall. Respiratory causes displayed the highest daily risk of rehospitalization following index hospitalizations for pneumonia, while circulatory and infectious causes had the highest daily risk of rehospitalization following index hospitalizations for sepsis. The day of highest risk for readmission occurred within two weeks of the index hospitalization discharge, but the readmission risk persisted across the 30-day follow-up. CONCLUSION: Among older adults discharged to SNFs following a hospitalization for pneumonia or sepsis, hospital readmissions for infectious, circulatory, respiratory, and genitourinary causes occurred frequently throughout the 30-day post-discharge period. Our data suggests further study is needed, perhaps on the value of closer monitoring in SNFs post-hospital discharge and improved communication between hospitals and SNFs, to reduce the risk of potentially preventable hospital readmissions.