Table 1.
Patient and clinical characteristics of sample*
| Living Alone | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | Yes (N=471) |
No (N=1,793) |
p-value |
| Age (years), mean (SE) | 62.7 ± 13.5 | 59.3 ± 12.3 | <0.001 |
| Female | 200 (42.5%) | 523 (29.2%) | <0.001 |
| Race | 0.004 | ||
| White Black Hispanic Asian Other |
321 (68.3%) 129 (27.4%) 12 (2.6%) 2 (0.4%) 6 (1.3%) |
1354 (75.9%) 344 (19.3%) 43 (2.4%) 5 (0.3%) 37 (2.1%) |
|
| Marital status | <0.001 | ||
| Married Divorced Separated Widowed Single (never married) Common Law Other |
51 (11.0%) 145 (31.2%) 31 (6.7%) 145 (31.2%) 8 (18.1%) 6 (1.3%) 3 (0.6%) |
1301 (73.0%) 162 (9.1%) 51 (2.9%) 113 (6.3%) 126 (7.1%) 23 (1.3%) 5 (0.3%) |
|
| Employment status | <0.001 | ||
| Full time Part time Unemployed |
130 (27.7%) 39 (8.3%) 301 (64.0%) |
713 (40.1%) 150 (8.4%) 916 (51.5%) |
|
| Living location | <0.001 | ||
| Owned home Owned home or apartment Relative or friend’s home Nursing home or assisted living Homeless Other |
229 (48.8%) 199 (42.4%) 19 (4.1%) 7 (1.5%) 5 (1.1%) 10 (2.1%) |
1351 (76.2%) 264 (14.9%) 140 (7.9%) 3 (0.2%) 4 (0.2%) 11 (0.6%) |
|
| Pet ownership | 146 (31.1%) | 896 (50.1%) | <0.001 |
| Medical care payer | <0.001 | ||
| Commercial/Preferred provider | 136 (30.2%) | 789 (45.8%) | |
| organization | |||
| Health maintenance organization Medicare Medicaid None/self-pay Other |
50 (11.1%) 155 (34.4%) 32 (7.1%) 54 (12.0%) 24 (5.3%) |
225 (13.1%) 334 (19.4%) 93 (5.4%) 214 (12.4%) 67 (3.9%) |
|
| Usual source of care | 0.002 | ||
| None Private doctor’s office Health maintenance organization |
57 (12.2%) 211 (45.0%) 30 (6.4%) |
191 (10.8%) 869 (49.0%) 139 (7.8%) |
|
| or prepaid health plan | |||
| Neighborhood clinic Hospital outpatient clinic Hospital emergency room |
27 (5.8%) 121 (25.8%) 14 (3.0%) |
167 (9.4%) 358 (20.2%) 21 (1.2%) |
|
| Other | 7 (1.5%) | 25 (1.4%) | |
| Avoided getting health care due to cost |
108 (23.3%) | 304 (17.2%) | 0.003 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | <0.001 | ||
| < 18.5 18.5-25 25-30 30-35 35-40 >40 |
11 (2.5%) 139 (31.7%) 147 (33.5%) 87 (19.8%) 41 (9.3%) 14 (3.2%) |
20 (1.2%) 351 (20.5%) 629 (36.7%) 437 (25.5%) 165 (9.6%) 110 (6.4%) |
|
| Smoker | 293 (62.2%) | 491 (27.4%) | 0.918 |
| Alcohol use | 0.248 | ||
| Never Less than monthly Monthly Weekly Daily |
161 (71.6%) 34 (15.1%) 15 (6.7%) 6 (2.7%) 9 (4.0%) |
691 (71.3%) 140 (14.4%) 64 (6.6%) 53 (5.5%) 21 (2.2%) |
|
| Diabetes mellitus | 139 (29.5%) | 491 (27.4%) | 0.359 |
| Hypertension | 321 (68.2%) | 1100 (61.3%) | 0.007 |
| Hypercholesterolemia | 220 (46.7%) | 908 (50.6%) | 0.129 |
| Congestive heart failure | 59 (12.5%) | 181 (10.1%) | 0.127 |
| Peripheral arterial disease | 34 (7.2%) | 127 (7.1%) | 0.919 |
| Previous myocardial infarction | 115 (24.4%) | 360 (20.1%) | 0.040 |
| Medication or counseling for depression |
78 (16.7%) | 207 (11.6%) | 0.004 |
| Clinical Presentation and Treatment | |||
| Myocardial infarction diagnosis | 0.586 | ||
| ST-elevation myocardial infarction Non-ST-elevation myocardial |
199 (42.3%) 270 (57.3%) |
801 (44.7%) 980 (54.7%) |
|
| infarction | |||
| Bundle-branch block/Uncertain | 2 (0.4%) | 12 (0.7%) | |
| Killip Class | <0.001 | ||
| I II III IV |
328 (79.0%) 73 (17.6%) 9 (2.2%) 5 (1.2%) |
1301 (86.4%) 152 (10.1%) 30 (2.0%) 23 (1.5%) |
|
| LVSD | 0.287 | ||
| Normal Mild Moderate Severe |
239 (50.7%) 99 (21.0%) 82 (17.4%) 51 (10.8%) |
971 (54.3%) 390 (21.8%) 263 (14.7%) 165 (9.2%) |
|
| Creatinine (mg/dL), mean (SD) | 1.5 ± 1.9 | 1.4 ± 1.5 | 0.048 |
| Aspirin at arrival | 447 (97.4%) | 1694 (96.6%) | 0.386 |
| Beta-blocker at arrival | 396 (92.7%) | 1507 (91.7%) | 0.469 |
| ACE inhibitor for left ventricular systolic dysfunction at discharge |
105 (89.0%) | 313 (80.3%) | 0.030 |
| Beta-blocker at discharge | 418 (94.6%) | 1576 (91.6%) | 0.036 |
| Baseline health status and social support measures | |||
| ESSI score, mean (SD) | 20.4 (5.6%) | 22.7 (4.0%) | <0.001 |
| SAQ quality of life, mean (SD) | 59.7 (24.4%) | 62.5 (23.2%) | |
| SF-12 PCS score, mean (SD) | 40.0 (12.9%) | 44.0 (12.2%) | <0.001 |
| SF-12 MCS score, mean (SD) | 49.2 (12.4%) | 49.7 (11.4%) | 0.479 |
*
All baseline characteristics were collected from detailed chart abstractions and baseline interviews administered within 24 to 72 hours of the index admission. Unless otherwise noted, data are reported as number (%) of patients.