Comparative Use of Homecare and Health Services Following Hospitalization with COVID-19, Sepsis, and…

Cohort studyJournal of general internal medicine· Jun 2026

Comparative Use of Homecare and Health Services Following Hospitalization with COVID-19, Sepsis, and Influenza: Population-Based Cohort Study.

Harpreet K Jaswal, Priscila Pequeno, Samantha Lee … Karen Okrainec

Hospital MedicineCohort studyClinical practiceQ1IF 3.3

COVID-19 survivors used homecare services less than sepsis survivors after discharge.

Comparative Use of Homecare and Health Services Following Hospitalization with COVID-19, Sepsis, and Influenza: Population-Based Cohort Study.

Harpreet K Jaswal … Karen Okrainec

Journal of general internal medicine · Jun 2026 · Q1 in Internal Medicine

Background

People hospitalized with infectious illnesses are at elevated risk of long-term morbidity and disability.

Purpose

Our objectives were to explore potential care gaps by characterizing and comparing home- and healthcare service use for up to 1 year amongst adults discharged alive following a COVID-19 hospitalization relative to adults who survived a hospitalization with sepsis or influenza.

Methods

We conducted a propensity-based overlap-weighted cohort study using linked health administrative data of all community-dwelling adults in Ontario discharged alive following hospitalization with COVID-19 or sepsis between April/2020 and December/2022.

Results

COVID-19 survivors used less homecare than sepsis survivors

RR by subgroup · 95% CI

More results

Among 204,008 included adults, 53,895 survived hospitalizations with COVID-19, 93,271 with sepsis (contemporary), 46,246 with sepsis (historical), and 10,596 with influenza.

Those with sepsis had a higher number of homecare visits up to 29 days following discharge than those with COVID-19, but an equal number at 30 days and beyond.

More results

Hospitalization with COVID-19 was associated with significantly higher rates of post-acute inpatient rehabilitation compared to all other groups.

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Conclusion

The additional burden of homecare use following hospitalization for multiple circulating severe infectious illnesses in the post-pandemic era necessitates adequate health system resource planning to meet the care needs of an aging and multimorbid population.

Comparative Use of Homecare and Health Services Following Hospitalization with COVID-19, Sepsis, and Influenza: Population-Based Cohort Study.

Comparative Use of Homecare and Health Services Following Hospitalization with COVID-19, Sepsis, and Influenza: Population-Based Cohort Study.

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