BACKGROUND:

Patient self-discharge from hospitals has been associated with a number of negative clinical outcomes. Research suggests that low patient trust and poor quality interpersonal experiences with care may be associated with hospital self-discharge. Although adults with sickle-cell disease (SCD) often report poorer quality healthcare experiences, research examining hospital self-discharge and its associations with both patient trust and quality of healthcare experiences is lacking for this patient population.

OBJECTIVE:

To examine the association of interpersonal experiences with care and trust in the medical profession with hospital self-discharge history among patients with SCD.

DESIGN:

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING:

A large, urban academic medical center.

PATIENTS:

Adults (age 18+ years) with SCD seeking outpatient or inpatient care.

MEASUREMENTS:

We compared patient characteristics, patient perceptions of the quality of interpersonal experiences with care, and levels of trust between patients with and without a history of hospital self-discharge.

RESULTS:

Adjusted analyses indicated that having a history of hospital self-discharge was associated with more negative interpersonal experiences and lower levels of trust.

CONCLUSIONS:

Hospital self-discharge may be an important indicator of the quality of care received by adults with SCD. Further research is needed to better understand this phenomenon so that effective interventions can be designed to prevent its occurrence.

Copyright 2010 Society of Hospital Medicine.