Table 2.
Results of Analysis for Heart Failure Cost
| Original Variables Entered | Variables Significant in Final Model (χ2 and p-value) |
|---|---|
| Patient characteristics | None significant |
| Age | |
| Ethnicity | |
| Marital status | |
| Religion | |
| Occupation | |
| Clinical conditions | |
| Primary diagnosis | None significant |
| Heart failure without hypertension | |
| Acute myocardial infarction | |
| Other cardiac conditions | |
| Conduction disorders | |
| Peripheral vascular disease | |
| Noncardiac circulatory diseases | |
| Comorbidities | Only one significant |
| 30 analyzed according to Elixhauser method | Deficiency anemia: χ2=3.87, p = .0491 |
| Severity of illness | Significant |
| Severe IV (19.4%) | |
| Major III (51.4%) | Severity of illness: χ2=10.11, p = .0177 |
| Moderate II (26.8%) | |
| Mild I (2.4%) | |
| Nursing unit characteristics | Only two significant |
| Number of units resided on during hospitalization | Number of units resided in during hospitalization: χ2=24.85, p≤.0001 |
| Percentage of time in intensive care unit (ICU) | |
| Average RN/patient ratio | RN/patient dip proportion: χ2=37.83, p≤.0001 |
| RN/patient dip proportion | |
| Treatments | |
| Medical | |
| Total number of medical procedures | Total number of medical procedures: χ2=79.52, p<.0001 |
| Nine types of medical procedures | Three of nine groups significant |
| Noninvasive heart failure diagnostic: χ2=13.29, p = .0003 | |
| Invasive heart failure diagnostic: χ2=7.19, p = .0073 | |
| Invasive cardiovascular therapy: χ2=108.32, p<.0001 | |
| Pharmacy | |
| Total number of different medications | Total number of different medications: χ2=29.30, p≤.0001 |
| 74 different medications used | 12 medications, p≤.05 |
| Nursing | |
| Total number of different interventions | Total number of different interventions: χ2=39.05,p<.0001 |
| 53 different interventions used | 10 interventions, p≤.05 |