TABLE 1.

Characteristics of Medicare Beneficiaries Hospitalized for TIA

	Total (N=122,063)	Women (N=76,108)	Men (N=45,955)
	%	%	%	P-value*
Age (years; mean ± SD)	79.0 ± 7.6	79.7 ± 7.7	77.8 ± 7.3	<.0001
65–74	30.2	27.1	35.4	<.0001
75–84	44.8	44.3	45.6
85+	25.0	28.6	19.0
Race				<.0001
White	85.7	85.0	86.9
Black	9.8	10.6	8.5
Other	2.4	2.3	2.4
Hispanic	2.2	2.1	2.2
Source of Admission				<.0001
Emergency Department	78.6	78.3	79.1
Skilled Nursing Facility	0.7	0.8	0.5
Other	20.7	20.9	20.4
Hospitalizations in Past Year ≥ 2	15.6	16.0	14.8	<.0001
Deyo Score ≥ 3	16.4	15.1	18.6	<.0001
Medical History & Comorbidity
Cancer	2.5	1.8	3.6	<.0001
Dementia	9.9	10.6	8.8	<.0001
COPD	18.4	16.9	20.9	<.0001
Ischemic Stroke	11.4	11.6	11.2	0.0697
Diabetes	26.5	25.6	27.9	<.0001
Smoking	6.2	4.8	8.6	<.0001
Hypertension	65.4	68.6	60.2	<.0001
AMI	9.2	7.5	12.1	<.0001
CHF	10.3	10.6	9.9	<.0001
Atrial Fibrillation	15.8	15.2	16.9	<.0001
Prior CABG	7.3	4.3	12.2	<.0001
Prior PTCA	2.7	2.1	3.7	<.0001
Discharge Disposition				<.0001
Home	70.6	68.0	74.9
Skilled Nursing Facility	13.5	15.3	10.6
In-Hospital Death	0.3	0.2	0.3
Other	15.6	16.5	14.3
Length of Stay (days; mean ± SD)†	3.4 ± 2.6	3.5 ± 2.6	3.3 ± 2.6	<.0001

^*P-value is for difference between men and women using t-tests for continuous variables and chi-squared statistics for categorical variables.

^†Excludes 2,174 patients due to in-hospital death, transfer to another acute care facility, and length of stay >61 days.