Comorbidities such as heart failure, lung cancer, anxiety, depression, and osteoporosis are important causes of increased early hospital readmission in patients with COPD exacerbation. The rates of early readmission for COPD exacerbation increase as the number of comorbidities increases. Higher rates of readmissions were noted in patients with COPD and combinations of comorbidities like heart failure and osteoporosis (21%), heart failure and anxiety (18.2%), heart failure and depression (15.9%), and heart failure and alcohol abuse (14.4%).

Inadequate discharge medications for COPD exacerbation were also associated with early readmission rates, specifically the failure to prescribe a short-acting bronchodilator, oral glucocorticoid, and an antibiotic. This patient was discharged on all of these medications; therefore, inadequate discharge medications should not be a cause of early readmission.

Another patient factor associated with early readmission is male gender. Female gender does not increase the risk for early readmission.

Patients who were discharged less than 2 days or more than 5 days after admission are at risk for early readmission. This patient's hospital stay was 4 days, so this is unlikely to contribute to her risk of early readmission.