Table 1.
Unadjusted characteristics of veterans with amputations who did and did not have a neurological disorder
| Patient characteristics | With a neurological disorder (n = 2,042) | Without a neurological disorder (n = 2,678) | p value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean age, years | 66.9±11.0 | 66.9±11.3 | 0.904 |
| Male gender | 2,025 (99.2) | 2,654 (99.1) | 0.815 |
| Married | 1,004 (49.2) | 1,128 (42.1) | <0.0001 |
| Living at home prior to hospitalization | 1,732 (84.8) | 2,330 (87.0) | 0.046 |
| Transfemoral level of amputation | 821 (40.2) | 1,031 (38.5) | 0.148 |
| Mean length of hospital stay, days | 33.7±90.5 | 26.2±31.1 | 0.005 |
| Etiology | |||
| Device infection | 178 (8.7) | 352 (13.1) | <0.0001 |
| Diabetes mellitus type I | 365 (17.9) | 375 (14.0) | 0.0003 |
| Diabetes mellitus type II | 1,499 (73.4) | 1,656 (61.8) | <0.0001 |
| Local significant infection | 1,608 (78.8) | 2,006 (74.9) | 0.002 |
| Skin breakdown | 1,459 (71.5) | 1,619 (60.5) | <0.0001 |
| Nonneurological comorbidities | |||
| Cancer | 155 (7.6) | 276 (10.3) | 0.001 |
| Congestive heart failure | 526 (25.8) | 598 (22.3) | 0.006 |
| Deficiency anemias | 497 (24.3) | 580 (21.7) | 0.030 |
| Depression | 224 (11.0) | 225 (8.4) | 0.003 |
| Fluid and electrolyte disturbances | 501 (24.5) | 549 (20.5) | 0.001 |
| Hypertension | 1,318 (64.5) | 1,613 (60.2) | 0.003 |
| Psychoses | 163 (8.0) | 170 (6.4) | 0.030 |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 19 (0.9) | 46 (1.7) | 0.022 |
Data are expressed as numbers, with percentages in parentheses, or means ± standard deviation. Patient characteristics were compared for patients with and without neurological disorders using χ2 and t test statistics for categorical and continuous variables, respectively. Only etiologies and comorbidities significantly different between those with and without neurological disorders are presented in the table. Thus, descriptive statistics for 4 etiologies and 16 comorbidities are not presented.