Non-specific pain and 30-day readmission in acute coronary syndromes: findings from the TRACE-CORE prospective cohort.
BACKGROUND
Patients with acute coronary syndromes often experience non-specific (generic) pain after hospital discharge. However, evidence about the association between post-discharge non-specific pain and rehospitalization remains limited.


METHODS
We analyzed data from the Transitions, Risks, and Actions in Coronary Events Center for Outcomes Research and Education (TRACE-CORE) prospective cohort. TRACE-CORE followed patients with acute coronary syndromes for 24 months post-discharge from the index hospitalization, collected patient-reported generic pain (using SF-36) and chest pain (using the Seattle Angina Questionnaire) and rehospitalization events. We assessed the association between generic pain and 30-day rehospitalization using multivariable logistic regression (N = 787). We also examined the associations among patient-reported pain, pain documentation identified by natural language processing (NLP) from electronic health record (EHR) notes, and the outcome.


RESULTS
Patients were 62 years old (SD = 11.4), with 5.1% Black or Hispanic individuals and 29.9% women. Within 30 days post-discharge, 87 (11.1%) patients were re-hospitalized. Patient-reported mild-to-moderate pain, without EHR documentation, was associated with 30-day rehospitalization (odds ratio [OR]: 2.03, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.14-3.62, reference: no pain) after adjusting for baseline characteristics; while patient-reported mild-to-moderate pain with EHR documentation (presumably addressed) was not (OR: 1.23, 95% CI: 0.52-2.90). Severe pain was also associated with 30-day rehospitalization (OR: 3.16, 95% CI: 1.32-7.54), even after further adjusting for chest pain (OR: 2.59, 95% CI: 1.06-6.35).


CONCLUSIONS
Patient-reported post-discharge generic pain was positively associated with 30-day rehospitalization. Future studies should further disentangle the impact of cardiac and non-cardiac pain on rehospitalization and develop strategies to support the timely management of post-discharge pain by healthcare providers.
['Chen|Jinying|J|', 'Kiefe|Catarina I|CI|', 'Gagnier|Marc|M|', 'Lessard|Darleen|D|', 'McManus|David|D|', 'Wang|Bo|B|', 'Houston|Thomas K|TK|']
Non-specific pain Readmission Acute coronary syndrome Natural language processing Electronic health records Cardiovascular disease Care transition