Table 1. Patient characteristics by transfer destination.

	Certified hospitals	Non-certified hospitals	P value
Number of patients	29 310	11 012
Age (mean [SD]), years	74.1 (12.0)	75.3 (12.0)	<0.001
Male sex (%)	58.3%	55.2%	<0.001
Functional deficit on admission (%)
mRS = 1	11.3%	12.6%	<0.001
mRS = 2–3, JCS = 0–3	34.8%	33.2%
mRS = 4–5, JCS = 0–3	39.0%	40.3%
mRS = 4–5, JCS = 10–30	9.6%	8.9%
mRS = 4–5, JCS = 100–300	5.3%	5.0%
LOS (mean [SD]), days	25.6 (23.8)	28.5 (29.3)	<0.001
7-day in-hospital mortality (%)	2.7%	2.3%	0.017
Hospital sizea (%)
Low	12.7%	69.7%	<0.001
Medium	39.2%	20.9%
High	48.1%	9.3%
Hospital volumeb (%)
Low	25.8%	52.5%	<0.001
Medium	36.6%	21.4%
High	37.6%	26.1%
Physician-to-patient ratioc (%)
Low	20.9%	65.1%	<0.001
Medium	45.2%	24.4%
High	33.9%	10.6%
Nurse-to-patient ratiod (%)
Low	27.7%	53.5%	<0.001
Medium	36.8%	21.8%
High	35.4%	24.7%

JCS, Japan Coma Scale; LOS, length of stay; mRS, modified Rankin Scale; SD, standard deviation.

^aHospital size: low, <300 beds; medium, 300–500 beds; high, ≥500 beds.

^bHospital volume: low, <120 patients per year; medium, 120–199 patients per year; high, ≥200 patients per year.

^cPhysician-to-patient ratio: low, <20 physicians per 100 patients; medium, 20–29.9 physicians per 100 patients; high, ≥30 physicians per 100 patients.

^dNurse-to-patient ratio: low, <90 nurses per 100 patients; medium, 90–104.9 nurses per 100 patients; high, ≥105 nurses per 100 patients.