Faculty mentor/PI email address
venkatar@rowan.edu
Keywords
social determinants of health, readmission rates, heart failure
Date of Presentation
5-6-2026 12:00 AM
Poster Abstract
Heart failure is one of the leading causes of hospitalization in the United States, with nearly 1 in 4 patients readmitted within 30 days of discharge. Clinical severity largely accounts for this risk, but social determinants of health (SDOH), including income, housing stability, transportation access, and health literacy, also play a role in post-discharge outcomes. This review synthesized seven cohort, observational, and qualitative studies from PubMed (2018–2025) examining the relationship between SDOH and 30-day readmission in heart failure patients.
Several patterns emerged across the literature. Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage, measured through ADI and SDI, was independently associated with higher readmission and mortality rates. Self-reported difficulty with transportation or scheduling nearly doubled the odds of 30-day readmission. Other findings reinforced these results, considering medication costs, limited health literacy, and poor follow-up access as common drivers of early return. Evidence from integrated systems such as the VA was mixed, suggesting that social risk likely interacts with clinical factors rather than functioning as a separate predictor.
These findings support future work is needed to integrate SDOH screening into discharge planning and risk stratification, paired with targeted interventions such as transportation assistance, pharmacy "meds-to-bed" programs, and community health work outreach.
Disciplines
Cardiovascular Diseases | Community Health and Preventive Medicine | Medicine and Health Sciences
How do adverse social determinants of health influence 30-day hospital readmission rates among patients with heart failure?
Heart failure is one of the leading causes of hospitalization in the United States, with nearly 1 in 4 patients readmitted within 30 days of discharge. Clinical severity largely accounts for this risk, but social determinants of health (SDOH), including income, housing stability, transportation access, and health literacy, also play a role in post-discharge outcomes. This review synthesized seven cohort, observational, and qualitative studies from PubMed (2018–2025) examining the relationship between SDOH and 30-day readmission in heart failure patients.
Several patterns emerged across the literature. Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage, measured through ADI and SDI, was independently associated with higher readmission and mortality rates. Self-reported difficulty with transportation or scheduling nearly doubled the odds of 30-day readmission. Other findings reinforced these results, considering medication costs, limited health literacy, and poor follow-up access as common drivers of early return. Evidence from integrated systems such as the VA was mixed, suggesting that social risk likely interacts with clinical factors rather than functioning as a separate predictor.
These findings support future work is needed to integrate SDOH screening into discharge planning and risk stratification, paired with targeted interventions such as transportation assistance, pharmacy "meds-to-bed" programs, and community health work outreach.