Negative outcomes pertaining to patients that leave against medical advice: a systematic review and meta-analysis

F. Abuguyan

Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fabuguyan@ksu.edu.sa

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• Emergency Medicine

OBJECTIVE: Leaving Against Medical Advice (LAMA) is a prevalent issue in healthcare settings that may lead to negative patient outcomes. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the impact of LAMA on patient outcomes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was performed across PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus. Studies reporting adverse outcomes, including mortality and hospital readmission rates, in patients who underwent LAMA were included. The odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled using a random-effects model.

RESULTS: Eight studies were included in the review, with four contributing to the meta-analysis on 1-year mortality and five to the meta-analysis on hospital readmission rates. LAMA was not significantly associated with higher 1-year mortality [OR = 0.66, 95% CI (0.38, 1.16), p = 0.15] or hospital readmission rates [OR = 0.61, 95% CI (0.30, 1.23), p = 0.16] across the studies. However, there was substantial heterogeneity in the results (I2 = 91% for mortality; I2 = 99% for readmissions).

CONCLUSIONS: While individual studies reported varying outcomes, the pooled results did not show a significant association between LAMA and increased 1-year mortality or hospital readmission rates. However, the high degree of heterogeneity suggests the influence of diverse patient populations, healthcare settings, and study methodologies on these outcomes. Further research is needed to better understand the factors contributing to the adverse outcomes associated with LAMA and to develop targeted interventions to mitigate them.

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