Table 2.

Co-morbidity burden assessed by Charlson Index

Variable	Statistic	2002 – 03*	2003 - 04	2004 - 05	2005 -06	2006 - 07
		(N = 5854)	(N = 5935)	(N = 5606)	(N = 5813)	(N = 5953)
Charlson Score	mean (sd)	2.2 (1.5)	2.2 (1.5)	2.5 (1.6)	2.3 (1.5)	2.4 (1.6)
(based on index admission)	median	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
(q1, q3)	(q1, q3)	(1.0, 3.0)	(1.0, 3.0)	(1.0, 3.0)	(1.0, 3.0)	(1.0, 3.0)
Charlson Score	mean (sd)	2.7 (1.8)	2.8 (1.9)	3.0 (2.0)	2.8 (1.9)	2.9 (2.0)
(based on two years history)	median	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
(q1, q3)	(q1, q3)	(1.0, 4.0)	(1.0, 4.0)	(1.0, 4.0)	(1.0, 4.0)	(1.0, 4.0)

* Financial Year (1 July – 30 June).

† N = number of persons with index admissions.

sd = standard deviation; q1,q3 = quartile 1, quartile 3.