Table 1 Baseline patient-level characteristics of the aggregated cohort, comparing readmitted to non-readmitted patients in index stays

 Male

41.1%

40.8%

42.8%

 Female

58.9%

59.2%

57.2%

Age, (N) Mean ± SD

68.0 ± 11.9

67.9 ± 11.9

68.7 ± 11.7

 1st Quartile

37.1%

37.0%

37.5%

 2nd Quartile

26.7%

26.8%

26.4%

 3rd Quartile

20.9%

20.9%

20.8%

 4th Quartile

13.9%

13.9%

14.1%

 Missing

1.4%

1.4%

1.4%

 Central county metro area ≥ 1 M

22.3%

22.0%

23.5%

 Fringe county metro area ≥ 1 M

24.6%

24.4%

25.5%

 County metro area 250,000–999,999 k

20.8%

20.9%

20.4%

 County metro area 50,000–249,999 k

10.3%

10.4%

10.1%

 Micropolitan area

13.0%

13.1%

12.2%

 Non-metro/non-micropolitan (rural)

9.0%

9.1%

8.3%

 Medicare (includes dual-eligible)

70.4%

69.6%

74.3%

 Medicaid

12.0%

11.8%

13.0%

 Private insurance

11.6%

12.3%

8.3%

 Self-pay

3.1%

3.4%

1.9%

 Other, including no-charge

2.9%

3.0%

2.4%

Number of admissions each patient had over a year, (N) Mean ± SD

2.50 ± 1.96

2.13 ± 1.60

4.31 ± 2.50

Number hospitals where each patient received care over a year, (N) Mean ± SD

1.33 ± 0.67

1.31 ± 0.64

1.44 ± 0.75

 Routine to home

67.5%

69.1%

60.1%

 Transfer to post-acute care

13.1%

12.4%

16.3%

 Other

0.7%

0.7%

0.8%

 Home with home health services

18.7%

17.8%

22.8%

^aLength of Stay, (N) Mean ± SD

3.75 ± 2.04

3.67 ± 1.96

4.16 ± 2.38

 Use of non-invasive ventilation

8.0%

7.7%

9.7%

 Use of mechanical ventilation

4.7%

4.5%

5.7%

 Placement or presents of tracheostomy

0.8%

0.8%

1.2%

 Cardiac arrest

0.2%

0.2%

0.3%

 Performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation

0.1%

0.1%

0.2%