Table I.
Characteristics of 384 physically frail US veterans aged ≥65 years at the time of discharge from 11 veterans’ hospitals, based on retrospective analysis of data from the Geriatric Evaluation and Management Drug Study.17 Data are no. (%) unless otherwise indicated.
| Variable | Value |
|---|---|
| Sociodemographic factors | |
| Age group, y | |
| 65–74 | 206 (53.6) |
| >74–85 | 165 (43.0) |
| >85 | 13 (3.4) |
| Sex | |
| Male | 374 (97.4) |
| Female | 10 (2.6) |
| Race | |
| White | 274 (71.4) |
| Nonwhite | 110 (28.6) |
| Marital status | |
| Married | 200 (52.1) |
| Not married | 184 (47.9) |
| Education | |
| Did not complete high school | 212 (55.2) |
| Completed high school | 172 (44.8) |
| Employment | |
| Not employed | 365 (95.1) |
| Employed | 19(4.9) |
| Health status | |
| Charlson comorbidity index, mean (SD) | 2.44 (1.93) |
| History of falls | 70 (18.2) |
| Depression | 37 (9.6) |
| Malnutrition | 122 (31.8) |
| Self-rated health | |
| Fair or poor | 239 (62.2) |
| Excellent, very good, or good | 145 (37.8) |
| Needs help with ≥1 activity of daily living | 312 (81.3) |
| Access to health care | |
| Primary hospital service | |
| Medicine | 257 (66.9) |
| Surgery | 127 (33.1) |
| >1 Prescriber | 19(4.9) |
| Number of necessary prescription medications* | |
| 1–4 | 82 (21.4) |
| 5–8 | 159 (41.4) |
| ≥9 | 143 (37.2) |
| Unnecessary medication use | 170 (44.3) |
*
Medication count excluding unnecessary medication use.