Table 1.
Characteristics of Patients Receiving Home Nursing Services Following Hospitalization for Acute Medical Illness and of Patients Living Alone Versus with Others
| Living Arrangements | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | Total (N=312) | Alone (n=141) | With Others (n=171) | P Value* |
| Demographics | ||||
| Mean age, y (SD) | 80.0 (7.1) | 81.2 (7.3) | 79.0 (6.8) | .008 |
| Women, n(%) | 196 (63) | 111 (79) | 85 (50) | .001 |
| White, n(%) | 302 (97) | 138 (98) | 164 (96) | .327 |
| Married, n(%) | 121 (39) | 7 ( 5) | 114 (67) | .001 |
| Prehospital function | ||||
| Mean IADL (SD)† | 4.1 (2.3) | 4.8 (1.8) | 3.5 (2.5) | .0001 |
| Mean ADL (SD)‡ | 5.5 (1.2) | 5.8 (0.8) | 5.2 (1.4) | .0001 |
| Dependent in 1 or more IADLs, n(%) | 246 (79) | 106 (76) | 140 (82) | .151 |
| Dependent in 1 or more ADLs, n(%) | 78 (25) | 19 (14) | 59 (35) | .001 |
| Hospital/discharge-related | ||||
| Mean length of stay, days (SD) | 6.9 (4.7) | 6.1 (4.9) | 7.5 (4.5) | .008 |
| Mean total no. of diagnoses (SD) | 7.1 (2.7) | 7.0 (2.7) | 7.1 (2.8) | .765 |
| Principal diagnosis, n(%) | ||||
| Cardiovascular | 59 (18.9) | 35 (20.5) | 24 (17) | |
| Pulmonary | 75 (24.0) | 42 (24.6) | 33 (23.4) | |
| Gastrointestinal | 37 (11.9) | 21 (12.3) | 16 (11.4) | .783 |
| Neurologic | 31 (9.9) | 18 (10.5) | 13 (9.2) | |
| Other | 110 (35.3) | 55 (32.2) | 55 (39) | |
| Mean no. of medications (SD) | 6.1 (3.1) | 6.2 (2.9) | 6.0 (3.2) | .684 |
| Mean MMSE (SD)§ | 25.9 (4.2) | 26.6 (3.1) | 25.3 (4.8) | .057 |
| Depressed mood, n(%) | 83 (27.0) | 39 (28) | 44 (27) | .846 |
*
Test for significance comparing living alone versus with others; unless otherwise noted, parametric tests were used for all continuous variables.
†
Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), maximum = 7 (telephoning, transportation, shopping, meal preparation, housework, medications, and ability to handle finances).
‡
Activities of daily living (ADL), maximum = 6 (bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, walking, eating).
§
Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), maximum score = 30; nonparametric test.