Table 2 Descriptive statistics by rural/urban residence of patient

Number of discharges

10,593

75.7

3,405

24.3

Patient characteristics

Age group (years)

<.0001

 18–44

547

5.2

130

3.8

 45–64

2,504

23.6

676

19.9

 65–84

4,889

46.2

1,746

51.3

 85+

2,653

25.0

853

25.1

Gender

<.0001

 Female

5.185

48.9

1,491

43.8

 Male

5,408

51.1

1,914

56.2

AHRQ Comorbidity Indictors

 Diabetes without chronic complications

3,350

31.6

1,140

33.5

.0436

 Diabetes with chronic complications

1,161

11.0

372

10.9

.9547

 Hypertension

7,152

67.5

2,208

64.8

.0040

 Depression

843

8.0

288

8.5

.3516

 Pulmonary circulation disorders

29

0.3

--^a

--

--

 Peripheral vascular disease

1,044

9.9

318

9.3

.3765

 Paralysis

186

1.8

61

1.8

.8908

 Chronic pulmonary disease

3,193

30.1

1,131

33.2

.0007

 Renal failure

4,276

40.4

1,400

41.1

.4383

 Liver disease

212

2.0

61

1.8

.4411

 Metastatic cancer

116

1.1

23

0.7

.0317

 Weight loss

377

3.6

50

1.5

<.0001

APR-DRG Severity

<.0001

 1 Minor

726

6.9

261

7.7

 2 Moderate

4,106

38.8

1,462

42.9

 3 Major

4,770

45.0

1,446

42.5

 4 Extreme

991

9.4

236

6.9

Laboratory data

Hemoglobin

<.0001

 Normal

7,594

71.7

2,362

69.4

 Abnormal

2,405

22.7

787

23.1

 Severely abnormal

95

0.9

24

0.7

 Missing

499

4.7

232

6.8

BNP

 Mean

8,457

1,037

2,294

939

<.0001

  25th percentile

8,457

527

2,294

488

  75th percentile

8,457

2,037

2,294

1,782

 Normal

2,018

19.1

596

17.5

<.0001

 Abnormal

4,054

38.3

1,163

34.2

 Severely abnormal

2,129

20.1

483

14.2

 Missing

2,392

22.6

1,163

34.2

Sodium

<.0001

 Normal

9,694

91.5

3,081

90.5

 Abnormal

597

5.6

175

5.1

 Severely abnormal

75

0.7

28

0.8

 Missing

227

2.1

121

3.6

Serum creatinine

.0001

 Normal

5,874

55.5

1,819

53.4

 Abnormal

2,188

20.7

780

22.9

 Severely abnormal

2,247

21.2

678

19.9

 Missing

284

2.7

128

3.8