%0 Journal Article %A Yassin T Ismaiel %A Fatmah Mahmoud Othman %A Arwa Alruwaili %A Taha Ismaeil %A Wejdan Alotaibi %A Ghada Obaid Alamri %A Ahad Aldhafeeri %A Moudhi T Alhamidi %T Body Mass Index and Emergency Department 30-day Re-Visit %D 2021 %J Respiratory Care %P 3607426 %V 66 %N Suppl 10 %X Background: Emergency department (ED) re-visit and hospital readmission are critical issues affecting many healthcare systems. Current studies have investigated the effect of the obesity paradox on readmission rate, however, data are scarce in relation to the impact of body mass index (BMI) and ED re-visit after discharge for respiratory disease. This study aimed to examine the effect of BMI on the rate of ED visits within 30 d following hospital discharge for respiratory disease. Methods: Institutional review board (IRB) approval was obtained. A retrospective chart review was carried out of randomly selected adult patients admitted with respiratory disease to the tertiary care center in Saudi Arabia between 2018-2020. The date of admission of those patients was considered the index date. Each medical file was reviewed for all-cause ED re-visit, excluding trauma and mortality, within 30 d of discharge from the index date. The BMI were classified using BMI categories into underweight (BMI <18.5 kg/m2), normal (BMI 18.5–24.9 kg/m2, overweight (BMI ≥ 25–29.9 kg/m2), and obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2). Additionally, demographic, and clinical information for each patient were retrieved from their electronic medical file. Results: A total of 600 patients admitted with respiratory disease were identified in which the most common respiratory disease for the initial admission for the index date was respiratory tract infections (47%). The mean age of the study population was 55 ± 21 y old. 372 (60%) of the study population had ED readmission post-hospital discharge within 30 d. 30% of the study population were overweight (BMI ≥ 25-29.9 kg/m2) and 38% were obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2). Overweight-obese BMI had a higher prevalence of comorbidities compared with a normal BMI (71% vs. 21%, P = 0.036). No difference in percentages of readmissions within 30-day (69%) existed between overweight-obese and normal BMI groups. Conclusions: ED re-visit and hospital readmission for patient with respiratory diseases are critical issues. We found that overweight-obese BMI had a higher prevalence of comorbidities compared with a normal BMI. There is no significant difference between ED visits and BMI. Similarly, gender factor and ED visits show no relation. %U