Table 1.
Comparison of Selected Patient Characteristics by Critical Access Hospital Status
| CAH (N=1165) | Non-CAH (N=3381) | p-value | Standardized Difference* | 95% CI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. patients | 10,267 | 300,114 | |||
| Age, mean years (SD) | 81.6 (7.9) | 78.4 (7.8) | <.0001 | 0.41 | (0.39, 0.43) |
| Female | 59.7 | 54.5 | <.0001 | 0.11 | (0.09, 0.12) |
| White | 93.9 | 85.6 | <.0001 | 0.28 | (0.26, 0.30) |
| Medical history / comorbidity | |||||
| Congestive heart failure | 18.0 | 16.8 | 0.001 | 0.03 | (0.01, 0.05) |
| Myocardial Infarction | 1.5 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.01 | (-0.01, 0.03) |
| Chronic atherosclerosis | 20.6 | 30.6 | <.0001 | -0.23 | (-0.25, -0.21) |
| Respiratory failure | 1.7 | 3.8 | <.0001 | -0.13 | (-0.15, -0.11) |
| Hypertension | 60.9 | 65.1 | <.0001 | -0.09 | (-0.11, -0.07) |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 13.9 | 36.8 | <.0001 | -0.55 | (-0.57, -0.53) |
| Renal failure | 7.3 | 11.7 | <.0001 | -0.15 | (-0.17, -0.13) |
| COPD | 12.4 | 15.3 | <.0001 | -0.08 | (-0.10, -0.06) |
| Pneumonia | 7.2 | 6.2 | <.0001 | 0.04 | (0.02, 0.06) |
| Dementia | 16.0 | 11.9 | <.0001 | 0.12 | (0.10, 0.14) |
| Functional disability | 35.6 | 26.9 | <.0001 | 0.19 | (0.17, 0.21) |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 5.2 | 10.9 | <.0001 | -0.21 | (-0.23, -0.19) |
| Depression | 6.3 | 5.0 | <.0001 | 0.06 | (0.04, 0.08) |
| Diabetes | 25.4 | 27.8 | <.0001 | -0.05 | (-0.07, -0.03) |
| In-hospital mortality | 6.4 | 4.6 | <.0001 | 0.08 | (0.06, 0.10) |
| Discharge to skilled nursing facility / intermediate care facility | 26.9 | 20.7 | <.0001 | 0.15 | (0.13, 0.17) |
| Length of stay, mean days (SD) | 4.0 (2.3) | 4.6 (4.6) | <.0001 | -0.16 | (-0.18, -0.15) |
CAH, critical access hospital; CI, confidence interval; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
*
Standardized difference = difference in means or proportions between CAH and non-CAH divided by standard error; a standardized difference of greater than 0.1 denotes a meaningful difference.