Age, yr, mean ± SD (range) | 81.2 ± 8.9 (55.0–98.0) | 84.1 ± 7.5 (56.0–97.0) | 0.002 |
Sex | | | 0.2 |
Male | 99 (42.5) | 39 (35.1) |
Female | 134 (57.5) | 72 (64.9) |
Marital status | | | 0.1 |
Married or living as married | 83 (35.6) | 45 (40.5) |
Widowed | 103 (44.2) | 55 (49.5) |
Never married | 16 (6.9) | 3 (2.7) |
Divorced or separated; not remarried | 31 (13.3) | 8 (7.2) |
Residence in last month before admission | | | 0.007 |
Home | 178 (76.4) | 79 (71.2) |
Retirement residence | 47 (20.2) | 19 (17.1) |
Long-term care or nursing home | 4 (1.7) | 11 (9.9) |
Other | 4 (1.7) | 2 (1.8) |
Location of residence before admission | | | 0.9 |
Rural | 11 (4.7) | 5 (4.5) |
Urban | 219 (94.0) | 105 (94.6) |
Missing | 2 (0.9) | 1 (0.9) |
Declined | 1 (0.4) | 0 (0.0) |
Level of education | | | 0.006 |
Completed high school | 141 (60.5) | 46 (41.4) |
Did not complete high school | 92 (39.5) | 61 (55.0) |
Missing | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.9) |
Declined | 0 (0.0) | 3 (2.7) |
Race; language | | |
White | 222 (95.3) | 86 (77.5) | < 0.001 |
White; speaks language other than English/French | 36 (15.5) | 30 (27.0) | 0.01 |
Non-white; speaks language other than English/French | 4 (1.7) | 18 (16.2) | < 0.001 |
Current fitness or frailty† | | | < 0.001 |
Very fit (category 1) | 9 (3.9) | 0 (0.0) |
Well (category 2) | 25 (10.7) | 4 (3.6) |
Managing well (category 3) | 38 (16.3) | 14 (12.6) |
Vulnerable (category 4) | 68 (29.2) | 20 (18.0) |
Mildly frail (category 5) | 54 (23.2) | 16 (14.4) |
Moderately frail (category 6) | 27 (11.6) | 31 (27.9) |
Severely frail (category 7) | 5 (2.1) | 15 (13.5) |
Very severely frail (category 8) | 0 (0.0) | 10 (9.0) |
Missing | 4 (1.7) | 0 (0.0) |
Declined | 3 (1.3) | 1 (0.9) |
Inclusion criteria | | | 0.03 |
Age ≥ 55 yr with COPD, CHF, cirrhosis, cancer or end-stage dementia | 70 (30.0) | 23 (20.7) |
Age ≥ 80 yr | 156 (67.0) | 88 (79.3) |
Care team assessment | 7 (3.0) | 0 (0.0) |
Length of hospital stay, d, mean ± SD (range) | 13.0 ± 15.6 (2.0–126.0) | 14.6 ± 11.4 (2.0–48.0) | 0.07 |
Death in hospital | 7 (3.0) | 14 (12.6) | < 0.001 |