Table 1 Key sample characteristicsa (N = 1130)
Characteristic | Overall (N = 1130) | Discharge communication elements present specifying clinician/clinic for follow-up in hospital discharge summary | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Designation present (n = 932) | Designation omitted (n = 198) | P-value | ||
Patient sociodemographic characteristics | ||||
Average age in years at discharge (standard deviation) | 80.84 (9.37) | 80.64 (9.64) | 81.77 (7.97) | 0.122 |
< 65 years | 53 | 49 (5.26) | 4 (2.02) | 0.28 |
65–69 years | 75 | 66 (7.08) | 9 (4.55) | |
70–74 years | 112 | 90 (9.66) | 22 (11.11) | |
75–79 years | 184 | 153 (16.42) | 31 (15.66) | |
80–84 years | 260 | 211 (22.64) | 49 (24.75) | |
≥ 85 years | 446 | 363 (38.95) | 83 (41.92) | |
Female | 765 | 640 (68.67) | 125 (63.13) | 0.130 |
Medicaid | 119 | 100 (10.73) | 19 (9.60) | 0.637 |
Race non-caucasian | 26 | 21 (2.25) | 5 (2.53) | 0.817 |
Patient prior medical history | ||||
HCCb Score (standard deviation) | 1.19 (.25) | 1.09 (0.3) | 1.06 (0.2) | 0.89 |
Index hospital length of stay in days (standard deviation) | 6.53 (4.34) | 6.65 (4.5) | 5.94 (3.7) | 0.04 |
1–4 days | 366 | 291 (25.75) | 75 (6.63) | 0.155 |
5–6 days | 238 | 193 (17.07) | 43 (3.8) | |
7–9 days | 263 | 225 (19.91) | 38 (3.36) | |
> 10 days | 263 | 223 (19.73) | 40 (3.53) | |
Primary diagnosis: | ||||
Stroke | 394 | 284 (30.47) | 110 (55.56) | 0.000 |
Hip fracture | 736 | 648 (69.53) | 88 (44.44) | 0.000 |
Mechanical ventilation or gastrostomy tube placement during index hospitalization | 37 | 34 (3.65) | 3 (1.52) | 0.126 |
Elixhauser comorbidity score (standard deviation) | 5.6 (7) | 5.6 (7.03) | 5.9 (7.04) | 0.792 |
Outcomes | ||||
Re-hospitalization within 30 days | 148 | 119 (12.77) | 29 (14.65) | 0.477 |
Death within 30 days | 60 | 47 (5.04) | 13 (6.57) | 0.385 |
30 Day re-hospitalization and/or death (combined outcome) | 198 | 147 (15.77) | 46 (20.71) | 0.090 |