Table 1.
Characteristics of the total population (N = 285), non-long stayers (n = 222), and long stayers (n = 63)
| Total population (n = 285) | Non-long stayers < 14 days (n = 222) |
Long stayers ≥ 14 days (n = 63) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intervention group (N = 148) | Control group (N = 137) | Intervention group (n = 106) | Control group (n = 116) | Intervention group (n = 42) | Control group (n = 21) | |
| Age included, years mean (SD) | 82.8 (6.0) | 82.1 (5.9) | 82.4 (6.1) | 81.9 (5.9) | 83.9 (5.9) | 82.9 (6.1) |
| Sex, n (%)a | ||||||
| Female | 98 (66.2) | 74 (54.0) | 69 (65.1) | 65 (56.0) | 29 (69.1) | 9 (42.9) |
| Level of education, n (%)a | ||||||
| Low (≤12 years) | 75 (52.8) | 73 (54.1) | 52 (49.1) | 64 (55.2) | 23 (54.8) | 9 (42.9) |
| High (>12 years) | 67 (47.2) | 62 (45.9) | 50 (47.2) | 50 (43.1) | 17 (40.5) | 12 (57.1) |
| Missing | 6 (4.1) | 2 (1.5) | 4 (3.8) | 2 (1.7) | 2 (4.8) | 0 (0) |
| Living status at admission, n (%)a | ||||||
| Home dwelling | 137 (92.6) | 129 (94.2) | 100 (94.3) | 111 (95.7) | 37 (88.1) | 18 (85.7) |
| Living alone | 86 (58.5) | 82 (59.9) | 59 (56.2) | 69 (59.5) | 27 (64.3) | 13 (61.9) |
| Need for assistance, n (%)a | ||||||
| Home care services | 75 (50.7) | 77 (56.2) | 48 (45.3) | 63 (54.3) | 27 (61.3) | 14 (66.7) |
| Multi-dose adherence aid | 43 (29.0) | 48 (35.0) | 27 (25.5) | 38 (32.8) | 16 (38.1) | 10 (47.6) |
| Handling own medications | 77 (52.0) | 64 (46.7) | 59 (55.7) | 58 (50.0) | 18 (42.9) | 6 (28.6) |
| Medication use, mean (SD) | ||||||
| Number of medications regular use | 6.6 (4.0) | 7.4 (4.0) | 6.8 (4.1) | 7.2 (4.0) | 6.4 (3.9) | 8.5 (3.9) |
| Number of medications total | 8.7 (5.1) | 9.6 (5.4) | 8.8 (5.1) | 9.4 (5.4) | 8.5 (5.1) | 10.5 (5.1) |
| Comorbidities in admission notes, n (%)a | ||||||
| Hypertension | 75 (51.0) | 69 (50.4) | 54 (50.4) | 58 (50.0) | 21 (50.0) | 11 (52.4) |
| Asthma or COPD | 44 (29.7) | 38 (27.7) | 34 (32.1) | 33 (28.5) | 10 (23.8) | 5 (23.8) |
| Atrial fibrillation | 37 (25.0) | 42 (30.7) | 15 (23.6) | 36 (31.0) | 12 (28.6) | 6 28.6) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 28 (18.9) | 31 (22.6) | 21 (19.8) | 25 (21.6) | 7 (16.7) | 6 (28.6) |
| Heart failure | 24 (16.2) | 21 (15.3) | 14 (13.2) | 17 (14.7) | 10 (23.8) | 4 (19.1) |
| Renal failure | 24 (16.2) | 21 (15.3) | 14 (13.2) | 16 (13.8) | 10 (23.8) | 5 (23.8) |
| Anxiety/depression | 17 (11.5) | 11 (8.0) | 11 (10.4) | 10 (8.6) | 6 (13.3) | 1 (4.8) |
| Dementia | 7 (4.7) | 4 (2.9) | 3 (2.8) | 4 (3.5) | 4 (9.5) | 0 (0) |
| Study ward, n (%)a | ||||||
| Ward 1 | 117 (79.1) | 103 (75.2) | 80 (75.5) | 85 (73.3) | 37 (88.1) | 18 (85.7) |
| Ward 2 | 31 (21.0) | 34 (24.8) | 26 (24.5) | 31 (26.7) | 5 (11.9) | 3 (14.3) |
| Died during the study period, n (%)a | 14 (9.5) | 12 (8.8) | 7 (6.6) | 10 (8.6) | 7 (16.7) | 2 (9.5) |
| EQ-5D utility score at dischargeb | 0.510 | 0.472 | 0.512 | 0.491 | 0.507 | 0.366 |
| EQ-5D utility score at 1 month follow-upb | 0.522 | 0.500 | 0.568 | 0.530 | 0.398 | 0.328 |
| EQ-5D utility score at 6 months follow-upb | 0.507 | 0.454 | 0.566 | 0.454 | 0.346 | 0.456 |
| EQ-5D utility score at 12 months follow-upb | 0.441 | 0.429 | 0.508 | 0.441 | 0.245 | 0.359 |
| Patients with prolonged hospitalizations (index or readmissions) ≥14 days, n (%)a | 42 (28.3) | 21 (15.3) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Total healthcare costs in previous year, € mean (95% CI)c | 11,085 (8535–13,922) | 11,975 (8835–15,249) | 8409 (6081–11,159) | 12,226 (8813–16,726) | 17,840 (11,721–23,959) | 10,586 (5794–16,807) |
CI confidence interval, COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, N/A not applicable, SD standard deviation
aPercentages were rounded
bAdjusted for common fixed baseline of 0.487
cCIs were bias corrected using bootstrap