Design: Single-centre retrospective cohort (observational)
Population: 368 food-insecure or malnourished adults aged ≥60 discharged home
Primary outcome: Unplanned readmission at 14, 21 and 30 days
Effect: Meal receipt aOR 0.31 (14 d), 0.47 (21 d), 0.82 (30 d)

A single-centre retrospective cohort looked at 368 food-insecure or malnourished adults aged 60 or over discharged home, some referred to a two-week home meal-delivery pilot.

Those who received meals had lower odds of unplanned readmission at 14 days (adjusted odds ratio 0.31) and 21 days (0.47), with the effect fading by 30 days (0.82). Earlier delivery, within nine days, was linked to the largest early reduction. The confidence intervals are wide and the design observational.

The signal is worth acting on even while awaiting a trial: food insecurity is a modifiable driver of early readmission, and asking about it at discharge costs nothing. In Indian practice, where post-discharge nutrition usually falls to family, the transferable point is to identify the patient who will not eat adequately at home and build a plan before they leave.

Meal delivery after discharge was associated with lower 14- and 21-day readmissions in food-insecure older adults.
Earlier delivery, within nine days, showed the largest early effect.
The benefit attenuated by 30 days, and the study was observational with wide confidence intervals.
Screen for food insecurity at discharge and arrange a feeding plan for those at risk.

Why it matters

It points to a cheap, modifiable driver of early readmission that discharge planning routinely overlooks.

The statistics, in plain English

Odds ratios of 0.31 and 0.47 look large, but with a few hundred patients the intervals are wide and the effect fades by 30 days, so this supports a trial and a sensible habit, not a firm causal claim.