Table 1.
Patient characteristics and their association with residence in public rental housing.
| Reside in rental housing (n = 2,163) | Did not reside in rental housing (n = 12,294) | Total (n = 14,457) | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, median (IQR) | 62 (49–74) | 65 (52–75) | 14,457 | <0.001* |
| Gender | <0.001* | |||
| Female (%) | 970 (44.85) | 6,442 (52.4) | 7,412 | |
| Male (%) | 1,193 (55.15) | 5,852 (47.6) | 7,045 | |
| Ethnicity | <0.001* | |||
| Chinese (%) | 1,332 (61.58) | 10,217 (83.11) | 11,549 | |
| Indian (%) | 266 (12.3) | 1,086 (8.83) | 1,352 | |
| Malay (%) | 504 (23.3) | 729 (5.93) | 1,233 | |
| Others (%) | 61 (2.82) | 262 (2.13) | 323 | |
| Marital status | <0.001* | |||
| Married (%) | 380 (17.57) | 2,615 (21.27) | 2,995 | |
| Single (%) | 133 (6.15) | 604 (4.91) | 737 | |
| Divorced/widowed/separated (%) | 45 (2.08) | 172 (1.4) | 217 | |
| Others (%) | 4 (0.18) | 10 (0.08) | 14 | |
| Unknown (%) | 1,601 (74.02) | 8,893 (72.34) | 10,494 | |
| Coinsurance | 24 (1.11) | 627 (5.1) | 651 | <0.001* |
| Medishield | 455 (21.04) | 4,292 (34.91) | 4,747 | <0.001* |
| MCPS | 40 (1.85) | 721 (5.86) | 761 | <0.001* |
| Medifund | 115 (5.32) | 36 (0.29) | 151 | <0.001* |
| Medisave | 1,817 (84) | 10,434 (84.87) | 12,251 | 0.305 |
| Others | 66 (3.05) | 340 (2.77) | 406 | 0.458 |
| Self-payer | 688 (31.81) | 3,457 (28.12) | 4,145 | <0.001* |
| Number of surgical procedures, mean (SD) | 0.38 (0.77) | 0.48 (0.81) | 14,457 | <0.001* |
| Length of stay of index admission in 2014, median (IQR) | 3 (1–5) | 2 (1–5) | 14,454 | <0.001* |
| Index admission was urgent (%) | 1,856 (85.81) | 8,585 (69.83) | 10,441 | <0.001* |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index score, median (IQR) | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | 14,454 | <0.001* |
| Mean (SD) | 0.25 (0.77) | 0.15 (0.60) | ||
| ED visits (6-month before index admission), median (IQR) | 0 (0–1) | 0 (0–1) | 14,457 | <0.001* |
| Mean (SD) | 0.61 (1.36) | 1.19 (2.82) | ||
| LACE score, median (IQR) | 6 (5–8) | 5 (4–7) | 14,457 | <0.001* |
| Hospital admissions (1 year before index admission), median (IQR) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–1) | 14,457 | <0.001* |
| Mean (SD) | 1.11 (2.34) | 1.56 (3.52) | ||
| Specialist clinic visits (1 year before index admission), median (IQR) | 1 (0–6) | 2 (0–7) | 14,457 | <0.001* |
| Mean (SD) | 4.45 (8.49) | 5.11 (8.59) | ||
| ED visits (1 year before index admission), median (IQR) | 0 (0–1) | 0 (0–1) | 14,457 | <0.001* |
| Mean (SD) | 0.36 (0.84) | 0.67 (1.62) | ||
| Readmission within 30 days (%) | 309 (14.29) | 1,309 (10.65) | 1,618 | <0.001* |
| Readmission within 15 days (%) | 199 (9.2) | 890 (7.24) | 1,089 | 0.001* |
| Frequent hospital admission (three or more in 1 year) (%) | 339 (15.67) | 1,284 (10.44) | 1,623 | <0.001* |
| Frequent ED attendance (four or more in 1 year) (%) | 286 (13.22) | 676 (5.50) | 962 | <0.001* |
| Specialist outpatient clinic visits in 2014, median (IQR) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–4) | 14,457 | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) | 1.89 (4.21) | 3.11 (5.97) | ||
| Congestive cardiac failure (%) | 53 (2.45) | 232 (1.89) | 285 | 0.082 |
| Cerebrovascular disease (%) | 11 (0.51) | 64 (0.52) | 75 | 0.943 |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (%) | 61 (2.82) | 123 (1) | 184 | <0.001* |
| Any malignancy | 5 (0.23) | 26 (0.21) | 31 | 0.855 |
| On anti-depressant | 98 (4.53) | 340 (2.77) | 438 | <0.001* |
| On anti-psychotic | 40 (1.85) | 145 (1.18) | 185 | 0.011* |
IQR, interquartile range; ED, emergency department; LACE, length of stay, acuity of admission, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, ED visits in the previous 6 months.
*p < 0.05 (statistically significant).