Baseline characteristics of patients discharged from hospital who were included in the study
| Characteristic | Frailty status; mean (95% CI)* | p value† | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frail (CFS score > 4) n = 162 | Not frail (CFS score ≤ 4) n = 333 | ||
| Age, yr, mean ± SD | 72.5 ± 15.0 | 58.2 ± 18.4 | < 0.001 |
| Female sex | 105 (64.8) | 145 (43.5) | < 0.001 |
| No. of comorbidities | 6.3 (5.8–6.7) | 4.2 (3.9–4.5) | < 0.001 |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index score | 3.6 (3.3–3.9) | 2.4 (2.2–2.6) | < 0.001 |
| No. of hospital admissions in past 12 mo | 1.2 (1.0–1.4) | 0.6 (0.5–0.8) | < 0.001 |
| Discharged from teaching ward | 125 (77.2) | 264 (79.3) | 0.6 |
| Living situation before index admission | < 0.001 | ||
| Living at home independently | 43 (26.5) | 246 (73.9) | |
| Living at home with help | 91 (56.2) | 78 (23.4) | |
| Assisted-living facility‡ | 28 (17.3) | 9 (2.7) | |
| EQ-5D overall score | 59.7 (56.5–62.9) | 65.2 (63.3–67.1) | 0.002 |
| EQ-5D mobility self-report | n = 331 | < 0.001 | |
| No problems | 13 (8.0) | 191 (57.7) | |
| Some problems | 132 (81.5) | 139 (42.0) | |
| Confined to bed | 17 (10.5) | 1 (0.3) | |
| EQ-5D self-care report | n = 332 | < 0.001 | |
| No problems | 70 (43.2) | 284 (85.5) | |
| Some problems | 82 (50.6) | 48 (14.5) | |
| Unable to wash or dress self | 10 (6.2) | 0 (0.0) | |
| PHQ-9 score | 7.9 (7.0–8.8) | 7.1 (6.5–7.7) | 0.1 |
| GAD-2 score | 1.8 (1.5–2.1) | 1.6 (1.4–1.8) | 0.2 |
| Goals of care in hospital | n = 148 | n = 319 | < 0.001 |
| Resuscitation and ICU | 70 (47.3) | 267 (83.7) | |
| ICU but no resuscitation | 33 (22.3) | 22 (6.9) | |
| No ICU, no resuscitation | 45 (30.4) | 29 (9.1) | |
| Comfort care | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.3) | |
| Timed get-up-and-go test, s | 24.4 (21.7–27.1) | 13.1 (11.8–14.3) | < 0.001 |
| BMI | 31.4 (29.5–33.4) | 27.8 (27.1–28.6) | < 0.001 |
| eGFR before discharge | 65.6 (61.0–70.3) | 80.4 (77.21–83.6) | < 0.001 |
| Serum albumin level | 34.0 (32.7–35.3) | 33.7 (32.5–34.9) | 0.8 |
| No. of prescription medications at discharge | 8.5 (8.0–9.0) | 5.3 (5.0–5.7) | < 0.001 |
| LACE score§ at discharge | 12.9 (12.5–13.3) | 10.9 (10.6–11.2) | < 0.001 |
Note: BMI = body mass index, CFS = Clinical Frailty Scale, CI = confidence interval, eGFR = estimated glomerular filtration rate, EQ-5D = EuroQol Health Questionnaire (maximum score 100), GAD-2 = Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2 Questionnaire, ICU = intensive care unit, PHQ-9 = Patient Health Questionnaire, SD = standard deviation.
↵* Unless otherwise indicated.
↵† The t test was used for continuous variables and the χ2 test for categorical variables.
↵‡ Includes independent seniors’ apartments with provision of meals with or without supervised medication consumption or on-site nursing support, but not nursing homes.
↵§ LACE is a nmemonic derived from variables independently associated with the outcome of death or urgent readmission within the first month after discharge: length of stay [“L”]; acuity of the admission [“A”]; comorbidity of the patient, as measured with the Charlson Comorbidity Index score [“C”]; and emergency department use, measured as the number of visits in the 6 months before admission [“E”].