Serum Albumin Level on Admission as a Predictor of Death, Length of Stay, and Readmission

doi:10.1001/archinte.1992.00400130135017

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Vol. 152 No. 1, JANUARY 1992

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Serum Albumin Level on Admission as a Predictor of Death, Length of Stay, and Readmission

FranÇois R. Herrmann, MD, MPH; Charles Safran, MD; Sue E. Levkoff, ScD; Kenneth L. Minaker, MD

Arch Intern Med. 1992;152(1):125-130.

Abstract

We studied the serum albumin level within 48 hours of hospitalizationfor acute illness to predict in-hospital death, length of stay,and readmission in 15 511 patients older than 40 years. Patientswith low serum albumin levels (<34 g/L), who made up 21%of the population, were more likely to die, had longer hospitalstays, and were readmitted sooner and more frequently than patientswith normal albumin levels. The in-hospital mortality was 14%among patients with low albumin levels, as compared with 4%among patients with normal levels. Although the serum albuminlevel was a nonspecific marker, it was a stronger predictorof death, length of stay, and readmission than age. We concludethat the serum albumin level on admission is an important variablethat should be incorporated in severityof-illness measures basedon physiologic indexes.

(Arch Intern Med. 1992;152:125-130)

Author Affiliations

From the Center for Clinical Computing (Drs Herrmann and Safran) and the Division of General Medicine and Primary Care (Dr Safran), Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Hospital, and the Charles A. Dana Research Institute and Harvard Thorndike Laboratory of Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, Mass; the Division on Aging (Drs Levkoff and Minaker) and the Department of Social Medicine and Health Policy (Dr Levkoff), Harvard Medical School, Boston; and the Geriatric Research Education Clinical Center, West Roxbury/Brockton Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Boston (Dr Minaker).

Footnotes

Accepted for publication August 6, 1991.

Reprint requests to Center for Clinical Computing, 350 LongwoodAve, Boston, MA 02115 (Dr Safran).

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