Teach-Back Experience and Hospitalization Risk Among Patients with Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions: a Matched Cohort Study

• DOI: 10.1007/s11606-019-05135-y
• Publication Date: 2019-08-05T15:02:47Z
• Authors: Young-Rock Hong; Michelle Cardel; Ryan Suk; Ivana A. Vaughn; Ashish A. Deshmukh; Carla L. Fisher; Gregory Pavela; Kalyani Sonawane
• Keywords: Adult; Primary Health Care; Middle Aged; Health Literacy; 3. Good health; Hospitalization; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Patient Education as Topic; Case-Control Studies; Chronic Disease; Humans; Patient Participation; Aged; Retrospective Studies

The teach-back method, also known as the "show-me" method, has been endorsed by many medical and health care societies. However, limited investigation has been conducted regarding its association with patient outcomes.To examine the association between patient teach-back experience and the risk of hospitalizations and length of hospital stay among patients with ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs).A matched cohort study.Data from the 2011-2015 Longitudinal Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (panels 16-19).Three thousand nine hundred ninety-four US adults aged ≥ 18 years with any of 5 ACSCs (hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD]).Hospital admissions (all-cause or ACSC-related) and the length of stay of the first admission were examined by teach-back during interaction with a health provider.Patients with teach-back experience were less likely to experience hospitalization for an ACSC-related condition (relative risk, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.71 to 0.99) and had a lower risk for a condition-related readmission (hazard ratio, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.60 to 0.99), compared with those without teach-back experience. The median length of hospital stay did not differ between patients with teach-back experience and those without teach-back experience (median 3 days [IQR 1 to 8 days] and median 3 days [IQR 0 to 8 days], respectively; P = 0.84). Subgroup analysis showed that the association of reported teach-back experience on the outcomes was relatively stable among those with hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease, but was not among those with asthma or COPD.Teach-back exposure relied on patient self-reported information.Our findings suggest that patient teach-back method is associated with reduced risk of hospitalization for those with ACSCs, especially among patients with cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. Encouraging providers to utilize the teach-back method at every visit has the potential to further reduce hospitalizations for individuals with ACSCs.