Table 1.
Descriptive Characteristics at Initial Assessment, by Province and Discharge Pathway (%a)
| WRHA | Nova Scotia | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| died | To LTC | still on service after 4 years | all other discharges | All | died | To LTC | still on service after 4 years | all other discharges | All | |
| N (% of provincial sample) | 989 (18.7) | 1,713 (32.5) | 2,029 (38.4) | 547 (10.4) | 5,278 (100.0) | 977 (18.4) | 2,306 (43.3) | 1,681 (31.6) | 359 (6.7) | 5,323 (100.0) |
| female | 56.2 | 65.0 | 72.6 | 70.2 | 66.8 | 58.9 | 71.4 | 73.9 | 68.2 | 69.7 |
| mean age (std dev) | 81.9 (8.5) | 83.7 (7.4) | 80. (8.7) | 78.6 (8.7) | 81.4 (8.5) | 81.6 (8.9) | 82.6 (7.8) | 78.2 (8.2) | 78.6 (8.8) | 80.7 (8.4) |
| over 85 | 41.3 | 48.7 | 31.3 | 26.3 | 38.3 | 40.3 | 40.9 | 21.5 | 28.5 | 33.8 |
| live alone at referral | 48.0 | 54.8 | 59.0 | 52.4 | 54.9 | 41.5 | 48.1 | 53.9 | 52.2 | 49.0 |
| married | 38.2 | 35.9 | 33.2 | 38.9 | 35.6 | 37.8 | 33.7 | 33.4 | 33.7 | 34.3 |
| co-resides with informal caregiver | 49.3 | 44.9 | 38.8 | 47.6 | 43.7 | 54.0 | 47.1 | 39.7 | 42.4 | 45.7 |
| no informal caregiver | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 3.7 | 2.9 | 2.3 |
| caregiver distress | 19.0 | 24.6 | 14.3 | 18.6 | 19.0 | 24.1 | 28.3 | 15.8 | 18.9 | 22.9 |
| primary caregiver child/child-in-law | 51.6 | 55.5 | 56.5 | 52.0 | 54.8 | 48.7 | 55.9 | 52.8 | 49.7 | 53.2 |
| primary caregiver is spouse | 30.2 | 26.9 | 23.1 | 27.5 | 26.1 | 30.1 | 25.3 | 24.1 | 25.5 | 25.8 |
| mean informal hrs in 7 days (std dev) | 14.1 (16.1) | 15.7 (19.7) | 10.3 (13.6) | 10.8 (12.9) | 12.8 (16.4) | 28.8 (34.2) | 29.7 (36.1) | 19.1 (27.2) | 21.4 (29.1) | 25.7 (33.1) |
| ADL hierarchy 1 or greater | 28.3 | 28.5 | 19.9 | 17.6 | 24.0 | 39.5 | 40.2 | 22.8 | 32.6 | 34.0 |
| CPS 3 or greater | 5.5 | 10.9 | 2.2 | 3.7 | 5.8 | 9.9 | 15.7 | 4.1 | 5.7 | 10.3 |
| CHESS 2 + | 39.3 | 33.7 | 31.1 | 28.4 | 33.2 | 54.0 | 52.9 | 41.8 | 41.0 | 48.8 |
| DRS 3 + | 8.6 | 9.0 | 8.6 | 7.8 | 8.6 | 18.0 | 24.5 | 16.0 | 17.7 | 20.2 |
| daily pain | 52.4 | 44.5 | 62.6 | 51.9 | 53.7 | 50.9 | 49.8 | 62.5 | 62.0 | 54.8 |
| MAPLe high or very high | 9.2 | 52.0 | 18.3 | 31.1 | 32.6 | 40.7 | 57.6 | 25.1 | 31.3 | 42.5 |
| urinary incont. at least 2 × per week | 23.4 | 27.9 | 19.4 | 17.9 | 22.7 | 24.4 | 28.6 | 22.9 | 22.6 | 25.6 |
| any aggressive behaviour | 2.5 | 6.0 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 3.1 | 11.4 | 17.6 | 5.6 | 6.5 | 11.9 |
| 1 or more falls last 90 days | 36.6 | 39.7 | 35.4 | 30.4 | 36.5 | 48.0 | 49.2 | 42.1 | 41.9 | 46.2 |
| 4 or more diagnoses | 46.9 | 40.2 | 40.4 | 39.8 | 41.5 | 60.3 | 56.2 | 56.7 | 53.3 | 56.9 |
| Alzheimer’s/related dementia | 4.2 | 34.0 | 7.4 | 14.0 | 18.0 | 19.5 | 37.0 | 9.4 | 14.4 | 23.5 |
| stroke | 16.2 | 14.9 | 15.2 | 19.0 | 15.7 | 116.1 | 13.7 | 13.6 | 14.1 | 14.1 |
| heart failure | 19.4 | 9.7 | 9.2 | 10.5 | 11.4 | 12.6 | 8.5 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 8.9 |
| cancer | 15.8 | 8.0 | 9.4 | 9.8 | 10.2 | 15.2 | 10.2 | 9.8 | 11.4 | 11.1 |
| psychiatric diagnosis | 12.3 | 14.1 | 15.1 | 16.5 | 14.4 | 11.9 | 16.5 | 16.0 | 17.7 | 15.6 |
| COPD | 21.4 | 13.1 | 14.9 | 14.4 | 15.5 | 26.9 | 15.9 | 22.1 | 21.7 | 20.3 |
| diabetes | 26.1 | 17.3 | 21.8 | 22.0 | 21.2 | 29.7 | 24.9 | 31.8 | 27.5 | 28.1 |
| arthritis | 46.7 | 48.5 | 55.3 | 47.2 | 50.6 | 58.0 | 60.8 | 68.7 | 59.5 | 62.7 |
aunless otherwise indicated