Table 2.
Baseline characteristics and outcomes for long-stay home care recipients in Ontario, by the full frailty index
| Characteristicsa | Full Frailty Index [FI] | P-value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robust (N = 108,676) | Pre-Frail (N = 80,155) | Frail (N = 45,721) | ||
| Sociodemographic characteristics | ||||
| Age (years), mean ± SD | 81.52 ± 7.45 | 82.11 ± 7.33 | 82.94 ± 7.42 | <.001 |
| Sex | <.001 | |||
| Male | 38,967 (35.9 %) | 27,606 (34.4 %) | 16,552 (36.2 %) | |
| Female | 69,709 (64.1 %) | 52,549 (65.6 %) | 29,169 (63.8 %) | |
| Rurality Index of Ontario | <.001 | |||
| Major Urban | 71,478 (66.1 %) | 53,723 (67.4 %) | 31,606 (69.6 %) | |
| Urban | 25,243 (23.3 %) | 17,965 (22.6 %) | 9,673 (21.3 %) | |
| Rural | 11,406 (10.5 %) | 7,974 (10.0 %) | 4,160 (9.2 %) | |
| Marital status | <.001 | |||
| Married | 42,380 (39.0 %) | 31,121 (38.8 %) | 18,563 (40.6 %) | |
| Never Married/Other | 6,340 (5.8 %) | 3,658 (4.6 %) | 1,890 (4.1 %) | |
| Widowed | 52,399 (48.2 %) | 40,025 (49.9 %) | 22,752 (49.8 %) | |
| Separated/Divorced | 7,557 (7.0 %) | 5,351 (6.7 %) | 2,516 (5.5 %) | |
| Primary caregiver | <.001 | |||
| No primary caregiver | 3,133 (2.9 %) | 1,441 (1.8 %) | 607 (1.3 %) | |
| Yes, does not live with client | 54,236 (49.9 %) | 37,256 (46.5 %) | 19,392 (42.4 %) | |
| Yes, lives with client | 51,307 (47.2 %) | 41,458 (51.7 %) | 25,722 (56.3 %) | |
| Caregiver is distressed | 12,851 (11.8 %) | 21,590 (26.9 %) | 20,179 (44.1 %) | <.001 |
| Total weekday hours of caregiver support during past week, mean ± SD | 8.48 ± 9.67 | 12.93 ± 13.92 | 17.10 ± 19.88 | <.001 |
| Total weekend hours of caregiver support during past week, mean ± SD | 3.72 ± 4.03 | 5.48 ± 5.67 | 7.09 ± 8.07 | <.001 |
| Average hours of caregiver support per day, mean ± SD | 1.74 ± 1.91 | 2.63 ± 2.74 | 3.45 ± 3.93 | <.001 |
| Comorbidity | ||||
| Number of ADG comorbidity categories | <.001 | |||
| 0–5 | 16,855 (15.5 %) | 10,636 (13.3 %) | 5,228 (11.4 %) | |
| 6–9 | 35,508 (32.7 %) | 23,905 (29.8 %) | 12,165 (26.6 %) | |
| 10+ | 56,313 (51.8 %) | 45,614 (56.9 %) | 28,328 (62.0 %) | |
| Health care utilization | ||||
| Acute care hospitalization in year prior to index date | 46,065 (42.4 %) | 37,250 (46.5 %) | 23,641 (51.7 %) | <.001 |
| Acute care hospitalization with ALC stay in year prior to index date | 8,499 (7.8 %) | 9,431 (11.8 %) | 7,940 (17.4 %) | <.001 |
| Emergency department visit in year prior to index date | 68,763 (63.3 %) | 56,421 (70.4 %) | 35,586 (77.8 %) | <.001 |
| Number of unique prescription medications overlapping index date, mean ± SD | 5.52 ± 3.49 | 6.58 ± 3.89 | 6.39 ± 4.33 | <.001 |
| Unique prescription medications overlapping index date | <.001 | |||
| 0–5 | 58,246 (53.6 %) | 33,155 (41.4 %) | 19,719 (43.1 %) | |
| 6–9 | 36,256 (33.4 %) | 29,605 (36.9 %) | 15,343 (33.6 %) | |
| 10+ | 14,174 (13.0 %) | 17,395 (21.7 %) | 10,659 (23.3 %) | |
| Outcomes b one year following index date | ||||
| Death | 13,212 (12.2 %) | 14,307 (17.8 %) | 13,525 (29.6 %) | <.001 |
| LTC admission | 9,372 (8.6 %) | 15,308 (19.1 %) | 15,464 (33.8 %) | <.001 |
| Hospitalization | 40,850 (37.6 %) | 35,876 (44.8 %) | 21,659 (47.4 %) | <.001 |
| Hospitalization with ALC stay | 11,927 (11.0 %) | 12,205 (15.2 %) | 7,489 (16.4 %) | <.001 |
ADG Adjusted Diagnosis Groups, ALC Alternative Level of Care, LTC Long-Term Care, SD Standard Deviation
a - Data are presented as N (column %) unless otherwise noted
b - Outcome categories are not mutually exclusive