The association of care transitions measure-15 score and outcomes after discharge from the NICU

Background Our objectives were (1) to describe Care Transitions Measure (CTM) scores among caregivers of preterm infants after discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and (2) to describe the association of CTM scores with readmissions, enrollment in public assistance programs, and caregiver quality of life scores. Methods The study design was a cross-sectional study. We estimated adjusted associations between CTM scores (validated measure of transition) with outcomes using unconditional logistic and linear regression models and completed an E-value analysis on readmissions to quantify the minimum amount of unmeasured confounding. Results One hundred sixty-nine parents answered the questionnaire (85% response rate). The majority of our sample was Hispanic (72.5%), non-English speaking (67.1%) and reported an annual income of <$20,000 (58%). Nearly 28% of the infants discharged from the NICU were readmitted within a year from discharge. After adjusting for confounders, we identified that a positive 10-point change of CTM score was associated with an odds ratio (95% CI) of 0.74 (0.58, 0.98) for readmission ( p = 0.01), 1.02 (1, 1.05) for enrollment in early intervention, 1.03 (1, 1.05) for enrollment in food assistance programs, and a unit change (95% CI) 0.41 (0.27, 0.56) in the Multicultural Quality of Life Index score ( p < 0.0001). The associated E-value for readmissions was 1.6 (CI 1.1) suggesting moderate confounding. Conclusion The CTM may be a useful screening tool to predict certain outcomes for infants and their families after NICU discharge. However, further work must be done to identify unobserved confounding factors such as parenting confidence, problem-solving and patient activation.