Emergency hospital admissions among older adults living alone in the community

Table.2 The association of living alone and number of chronic diseases on ED admission outcomes

	ED admission risk [OR (95 % CI)]°	Inpatient days [Mean increase (95 % CI)]°	Inpatient costs (USD) [Mean increase (95 % CI)]°
Living arrangements
Living with others	1.00 (Ref.)	0.00 (Ref.)	0.00 (Ref.)
Living alone	1.28** (1.08 - 1.51)	0.61*** (0.25 - 0.97)	322** (54 - 591)
Number of chronic diseases
None	1.00	0.00 (Ref.)	0.00 (Ref).
One	1.23* (1.03 - 1.46)	0.27 (-0.08 - 0.62)	25 (-211 - 262)
Two	1.30** (1.10 - 1.53)	0.13 (-0.18 - 0.43)	163 (-80 - 406)
Three	1.44*** (1.22 - 1.71)	0.47** (0.11 - 0.83)	301* (41 - 561)
Four or more	2.21*** (1.86 - 2.63)	0.98*** (0.59 - 1.37)	814*** (494 - 1,134)
p-for trend	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
Multimorbidity
Without multimorbidity (Less than two chronic diseases)	1.00	0.00 (Ref.)	0.00 (Ref).
With multimorbidity (Two or more chronic diseases)	1.30*** (1.17-1.44)	0.30* (0.06-0.54)	360*** (199-522)

°Adjusted for age, gender, education, chronic diseases (hypertension, coronary artery disease, stroke, diabetes, hyperlipidaemia/hypercholesterolaemia, gout, cancer, chronic lung disease, hip/bone fractures, arthritis, Parkinson’s disease and kidney failure), physical function, instrumental limitations, depressive symptoms, mild cognitive impairment, social support, social activity, primary care visits, ED admission outcomes for the year preceding interview date and mortality within analysis period. Those living with others (reference group) had on average 1.48 inpatient days and mean inpatient cost of 1,155 USD. Those with no chronic diseases (reference group) had on average 1.19 inpatient days and mean inpatient cost of 928 USD. Those with no multimorbidity (reference group) had on average 1.36 inpatient days and mean inpatient cost of 964 USD
*p-value<0.05; **p-value<0.01 ***p-value<0.001

ISSN: 1472-6963