TABLE 1—
Baseline Demographic and Clinical Characteristics by Group: 1998–2000
| Characteristic | Respite Care Group (n = 161) | Usual Care Groupa (n = 64) | P |
| Mean age, y (SD) | 43 (9) | 44 (10) | .54 |
| Race n (%) | .05 | ||
| African American | 120 (75) | 43 (67) | |
| White | 30 (19) | 10 (16) | |
| Latino | 9 (6) | 10 (16) | |
| Other | 2 (1) | 1 (2) | |
| Female Gender, n (%) | 36 (22) | 12 (19) | .59 |
| Diagnosis, n (%) | .07 | ||
| Trauma | 64 (40) | 15 (23) | |
| HIV44 (27) | 18 (28) | ||
| Non-HIV Infection | 20 (12) | 9 (14) | |
| Other Illness | 33 (21) | 22 (34) | |
| Use of health services during the 6 months before index hospitalization | |||
| Inpatient days, mean, median (25th, 75th percentile) | 5.8, 2 (0, 8) | 5.3, 0 (0, 7) | .23 |
| Emergency department visits, mean, median (25th, 75th percentile) | 1.5, 1 (0, 2) | 0.9, 0 (0, 1) | .02 |
| Outpatient clinic visits, mean, median (25th, 75th percentile) | 1.8, 0 (0, 2) | 1.8, 0 (0, 1) | .42 |
aPatients in the usual care group were eligible and referred for but were denied respite care because beds were not available at the respite care center.