Table 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics by participation level (n= 2025)
| High participation (n= 1644), n (%) | Low participation (n= 381), n (%) | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age (mean ± SD) | 60.8 ± 16.3 | 59.0 ± 16.6 | 0.046 |
| Gender | 0.01 | ||
| Male | 731 (44.5) | 143 (37.5) | |
| Female | 913 (55.5) | 238 (62.5) | |
| Hispanic/Latino | 0.19 | ||
| Yes | 54 (3.4) | 18 (4.8) | |
| No | 1554 (96.6) | 359 (95.2) | |
| Race | 0.59 | ||
| Asian | 11 (0.7) | 3 (0.8) | |
| Black/African American | 78 (4.9) | 13 (3.5) | |
| White | 1488 (92.8) | 349 (93.3) | |
| Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander | 2 (0.1) | 1 (0.3) | |
| American Indian/Alaskan | 12 (0.7) | 4 (1.1) | |
| Other | 12 (0.7) | 4 (1.1) | |
| Overall health | <0.001 | ||
| Excellent | 245 (15.0) | 35 (9.2) | |
| Very good | 520 (31.7) | 113 (29.7) | |
| Good | 500 (30.5) | 99 (26.0) | |
| Fair | 280 (17.1) | 93 (24.4) | |
| Poor | 93 (5.7) | 41 (10.8) | |
| Do you have one main doctor? | 0.18 | ||
| Yes | 1499 (91.4) | 340 (89.2) | |
| No | 141 (8.6) | 41 (10.8) | |
| For how many months or years have you been going to this doctor? | 0.47 | ||
| <6 months | 98 (6.6) | 29 (8.6) | |
| 7–12 months | 113 (7.6) | 27 (8.0) | |
| 1–2 years | 129 (8.6) | 32 (9.4) | |
| >2 years | 1153 (77.1) | 250 (73.7) | |
| Don't know | 2 (0.1) | 1 (0.3) | |
| Number of hospitalizations (in 6 months of 2003) | 1.6 ± 1.1 | 1.6 ± 1.2 | 0.51 |
| Did you spend any time in an intensive care unit? | 0.15 | ||
| Yes | 291 (17.2) | 57 (15.0) | |
| No | 1301 (79.2) | 306 (80.3) | |
| Don't know | 51 (3.1) | 18 (4.7) | |
| Did you spend any time in the emergency room? | <0.001 | ||
| Yes | 858 (52.3) | 236 (61.9) | |
| No | 762 (46.4) | 135 (35.4) | |
| Don't know | 22 (1.3) | 10 (2.6) | |
| When released, did you go home or somewhere else? | 0.87 | ||
| Home | 1362 (82.9) | 313 (82.6) | |
| Somewhere else | 280 (17.1) | 66 (17.4) | |
| Length of stay (days) | 0.08 | ||
| 1–2 | 317 (19.3) | 64 (16.8) | |
| 3–5 | 845 (51.4) | 222 (58.3) | |
| 6–10 | 375 (22.8) | 79 (20.7) | |
| 11–15 | 66 (4.0) | 7 (1.8) | |
| 16+ | 41 (2.5) | 9 (2.4) | |
| Type of location | 0.12 | ||
| Urban | 1407 (85.6) | 314 (82.4) | |
| Non-urban | 237 (14.4) | 67 (17.6) | |
| Teaching status | 0.044 | ||
| Major | 571 (35.6) | 109 (29.7) | |
| Minor | 463 (28.9) | 105 (28.6) | |
| Non-teaching | 568 (35.5) | 153 (41.7) | |
| Ownership | 0.65 | ||
| Non-profit | 1351 (84.3) | 306 (83.4) | |
| Church operated | 251 (15.7) | 61 (16.6) | |
| Bed size | 0.01 | ||
| 1–100 | 178 (11.1) | 41 (11.2) | |
| 101–200 | 382 (23.8) | 82 (22.3) | |
| 201–300 | 342 (21.3) | 100 (27.2) | |
| 301+ | 700 (43.7) | 144 (39.2) | |
| Charlson score (mean ± SD, n= 788) | 1.34 ± 1.69 | 1.04 ± 1.47 | 0.048 |
| How much can you rely on your own knowledge and alertness to protect yourself from medical errors? | <0.001 | ||
| A lot/some | 1416 (87.0) | 271 (71.9) | |
| A little/not at all | 212 (13.0) | 106 (28.1) |