Results: We identified 10 828 (6.0%) patients
who had at least 1 unplanned admission to
hospital and 2037 (1.1%) patients who had at
least 1 potentially preventable unplanned
admission to hospital. Both unplanned and
potentially preventable unplanned admissions
were independently associated with increasing
physical multimorbidity (for ≥ 4 v. 0 conditions,
odds ratio [OR] 5.87 [95% confidence
interval (CI) 5.45–6.32] for unplanned admissions,
OR 14.38 [95% CI 11.87–17.43] for
potentially preventable unplanned admissions),
mental health conditions (for ≥ 1 v. 0
conditions, OR 2.01 [95% CI 1.92–2.09] for
unplanned admissions, OR 1.80 [95% CI 1.64–
1.97] for potentially preventable unplanned
admissions) and socioeconomic deprivation
(for most v. least deprived quintile, OR 1.56
[95% CI 1.43–1.70] for unplanned admissions,
OR 1.98 [95% CI 1.63–2.41] for potentially preventable
unplanned admissions).
Interpretation: Physical multimorbidity was
strongly associated with unplanned admission
to hospital, including admissions that were
potentially preventable. The risk of admission
to hospital was exacerbated by the coexistence
of mental health conditions and socio –
economic deprivation.