Table 1 Clinicodemographic characteristics of patients by admitting physician.

	Respiratory (n = 2216) [median age 70]		General (n = 3711) [median age 71]		CoE (n = 1186) [median age 76]
	%	n	%	n	%	n
Age (years)
<65	29	637	25	32	12	136
65–74	39	866	38	1424	21	251
75–84	28	627	30	1119	50	590
85+	4	86	6	236	18	209
Male	51	1140	53	1961	52	622
Living alone	37	777/2108	38	1320/3478	45	508/1121
Living in own home without social care	72	1320/1831	70	2156/3067	62	612/991
Living in own home with social care	16	297/1831	17	507/3067	22	216/991
Other (sheltered 50%; institutional 36%)	12	214/1831	13	404/3067	16	163/991
Performance status
Normal activity/strenuous activity limited	30	603/1991	32	1059/3271	26	269/1044
Limited activity but self care	46	916/1991	46	1509/3271	48	496/1044
Limited self‐care/bed or chair bound	24	472/1991	21	703/3271	27	279/1044
Documented co‐morbidity
Heart disease	35	771	38	1391	44	517
Stroke	5	105	6	218	8	90
Other chest problems	12	260	10	385	9	112
Diabetes	10	212	10	378	10	113
Locomotor problems	11	238	12	438	16	193
Visual impairment	2	49	3	105	4	52
None of the above	45	996	44	1624	36	427
One of the above	40	885	33	1411	42	494
Two or more of the above	15	335	18	676	22	265
Current smoker	42	903/2128	43	1508/3542	35	387/1119
Ex‐smoker	55	1160/2128	54	1901/3542	61	679/1119
Lifelong non‐smoker	3	65/2128	4	133/3542	5	53/1119
40+ pack years of smoking (ex/current)	61	602/995	60	967/1610	59	265/449
Previous COPD admission or early discharge scheme	69	1458/2128	65	2264/3489	62	697/1117

CoE, care of elderly physician.

χ² test with age group: all p<0.001 except for sex (p = 0.58), stroke (p = 0.003), other chest problems (p = 0.09), diabetes (p = 0.67), visual impairment (p = 0.001), pack years (p = 0.88), and previous COPD admission (p = 0.001).