Table 2.
Characteristics of 429 Hospital Patients in the Clinical Pathway and Usual Care Study Groups (demographics, risk factors and disease severity at admission).
| Variable | Clinical pathway (n = 214) | Usual Care (n = 215) | p value |
| Male gender | 102 | 110 | 0.50 |
| Mean age in years (SD) | 81.7 (8.3) | 79.6 (8.5) | 0.011 |
| Admitted from | |||
| General practitioner | 106 | 109 | 0.77 |
| Home | 108 | 106 | |
| Severity at admission | |||
| NYHA II | 16 | 15 | |
| NYHA III | 117 | 114 | 0.87 |
| NYHA IV | 81 | 86 | |
| Co morbidities | |||
| Hypertension | 154 | 161 | 0.58 |
| COPD | 52 | 58 | 0.58 |
| Diabetes | 41 | 38 | 0.71 |
| Smoking | 34 | 31 | 0.68 |