Table 1.

Baseline Characteristics of Hospitalized Nursing Home Residents With and Without Feeding Tubes Inserted During Hospitalization

Characteristic	Without Feeding Tube	With Feeding Tube	P-value
Weighted Persons, n	1924	1924
Unique Persons, n	4337	1924
Age, years, mean (SD)	83.2 (7.5)	83.1 (7.3)	0.38
Married	26.2	26.3	0.95
Female	69.5	68.9	0.61
Race
White	61.2	60.6	0.67
African American	27.5	28.8	0.23
Hispanic	8.9	8.3	0.37
Completed High School	53.6	52.9	0.61
Advance Care Planning
DPOA	21.4	22.1	0.53
Living Will	7.2	7.6	0.50
DNR Order	33.7	34.5	0.50
DNH Order	0.9	0.8	0.71
Orders to Forgo Artificial	3.2	3.2	0.91
Hydration and Nutrition
Medical History
Diabetes	26.8	27.2	0.73
CAD	12.1	12.8	0.38
CHF	15.2	14.7	0.62
COPD	10.2	10.1	0.91
Cancer	3.8	3.7	0.94
Hip Fracture	6.5	6.1	0.57
Risk Factors for Feeding
Tube Insertion
Weight Loss	26.5	26.4	0.90
Swallowing Problems	43.0	42.7	0.78
Chewing Problems	55.0	54.6	0.77
Mechanically Altered Diet	45.6	45.3	0.82
ADL Score, mean (SD)	26.3 (2.6)	26.5 (2.4)	0.003
Mortality
30-day	21.6	19.4	0.03
180-day	49.8	51.9	0.11

DPOA = durable power of attorney; DNR = do not resuscitate; DNH = do not hospitalize; CAD = coronary artery disease; CHF = congestive heart failure; COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; ADL = activities of daily living.