Table 1 Sample Characteristics of Studied Population (N = 4684)
| Â | N | % | Â | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Readmission | No Readmission | Readmission | No Readmission | P values | |
All | 842 | 3842 | 18.0 | 82.0 | Â |
Female | 483 | 2204 | 57.4 | 57.4 | 0.988 |
Age | 0.064 | ||||
 65–74 | 297 | 1564 | 35.3 | 40.7 |  |
 75–84 | 405 | 1588 | 48.1 | 41.3 | |
 85+ | 140 | 691 | 16.6 | 18.0 | |
Race/Ethnicity | 0.003 | ||||
 Whites | 682 | 3280 | 81.0 | 85.4 |  |
 Blacks | 87 | 294 | 10.3 | 7.7 | |
 Hispanics | 34 | 134 | 4.0 | 3.5 | |
Charlson comorbidity categories | |||||
 Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) | 100 | 491 | 11.9 | 12.8 | 0.551 |
 Congestive heart failure (CHF) | 302 | 1111 | 35.9 | 28.9 | < 0.001 |
 Peripheral vascular disease (PVD) | 183 | 697 | 21.7 | 18.1 | 0.032 |
 Cerebrovascular disease | 268 | 1002 | 31.8 | 26.1 | 0.001 |
 Dementia | 62 | 242 | 7.4 | 6.3 | 0.220 |
 Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) | 341 | 1377 | 40.5 | 35.8 | 0.025 |
 Rheumatoid Disease | 42 | 232 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 0.272 |
 Peptic Ulcer | 44 | 176 | 5.2 | 4.6 | 0.463 |
 Mild liver disorder | 17 | 24 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 0.001 |
 Diabetes | 330 | 1295 | 39.2 | 33.7 | 0.002 |
 Diabetes + Complications | 92 | 399 | 10.9 | 10.4 | 0.662 |
 Hemiplegia or Paraplegia | 29 | 64 | 3.5 | 1.7 | 0.002 |
 Renal disease | 137 | 483 | 16.2 | 12.6 | 0.011 |
 Cancer | 192 | 721 | 22.8 | 18.8 | 0.006 |
 Moderate/severe Liver disease | 9 | 15 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.024 |
 Metastic Cancer | 60 | 140 | 7.1 | 3.6 | < 0.001 |
 Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) | 1 | 3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.736 |
Ever-smoker | 499 | 2220 | 59.3 | 57.8 | 0.458 |
Overweight/Obese | 496 | 2360 | 59.0 | 61.4 | 0.204 |
Education | 0.175 | ||||
 < 12 years of education | 299 | 1252 | 35.5 | 32.6 |  |
 High school | 428 | 2040 | 50.8 | 53.1 | |
 College and above | 115 | 550 | 13.6 | 14.3 | |
Income, Household | 0.104 | ||||
 Poorest quartile | 172 | 699 | 20.5 | 18.2 |  |
 Second quartile | 249 | 1099 | 29.6 | 28.6 | |
 Top two quartiles | 421 | 2044 | 50.0 | 53.2 | |
Marital Status | 0.301 | ||||
 Married | 385 | 1849 | 45.8 | 48.1 |  |
 Widowed | 358 | 1552 | 42.5 | 40.4 | |
 Divorced/separated | 74 | 316 | 8.8 | 8.2 | |
 Never married | 25 | 125 | 3.0 | 3.2 | |
Living Type | 0.952 | ||||
 Community-Alone | 281 | 1285 | 33.4 | 33.4 |  |
 Community-Two people | 401 | 1847 | 47.6 | 48.1 | |
 Community-More than two | 131 | 530 | 15.6 | 13.8 | |
 Facility | 29 | 180 | 3.5 | 4.7 | |
Dual (Medicare-Medicaid) coverage | 159 | 583 | 18.9 | 15.2 | 0.006 |
Death During Follow-up | 278 | 740 | 33.0 | 19.3 | < 0.001 |
Utilizations by hospital referral regions | 0.009 | ||||
 First quintile | 100 | 610 | 11.8 | 15.9 |  |
 Second quintile | 137 | 625 | 16.3 | 16.3 | |
 Third quintile | 137 | 700 | 16.2 | 18.2 | |
 Fourth quintile | 255 | 1057 | 30.3 | 27.5 | |
 Fifth quintile | 213 | 851 | 25.4 | 22.1 | |
Previous year utilization | |||||
 Days of stay | 4.6 | 2.4 | 4.6 | 2.4 | < 0.001 |
 Number of hospitalizations | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.4 | < 0.001 |
 Overall Medicare spending ($) | 39,004.5 | 25,103.7 | 39,004.5 | 25,103.7 | < 0.001 |
 Medicare spending 1-year following index discharge | 56,855.5 | 35,464.5 | 56,855.5 | 35,464.5 | < 0.001 |