Characteristics of patients
| Characteristic | Participating patients, no. (%)*n = 233 | Nonparticipating patients, no. (%)*n = 111 | p value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |