Substance Use Disorder Linked to Higher Risk for Unplanned Readmissions
TUESDAY, July 29, 2025 -- People with any type of substance use disorder (SUD) face a higher risk for having an unplanned, 30-day hospital readmission compared with those without SUD, according to a study published online July 23 in Addiction.
Allison D. Rosen, Ph.D., from the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study to examine the association between SUD diagnoses, discharge disposition, and 30-day unplanned hospital readmissions. The analysis included electronic health data from 22,108 adult inpatients (7.4 percent with at least one SUD).
The researchers found that patients with any SUD (adjusted risk ratio [aRR], 1.24) and patients specifically with opioid use disorder (aRR, 1.40) were more likely to have a 30-day unplanned readmission versus patients without SUDs. After adjusting for covariates, only patients with SUDs discharged to home or self-care (aRR, 1.33) had a higher risk for unplanned readmission. Among patients who eloped or who were discharged to a home health service or an inpatient facility, there was no association between SUD and 30-day unplanned readmission. Of patients with zero, one, two, and three or more unplanned readmissions, 7.1, 8.8, 14.0, and 15.5 percent, respectively, had an SUD at their index admission.
"Implementing evidence-based practices for treating SUDs, such as starting patients on medication and/or behavioral therapy during their hospitalization and linking them to outpatient treatment at discharge, could have the potential to improve quality of care for patients with SUDs, as well as reducing costs related to 30-day unplanned readmissions," Rosen said in a statement.
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