Table 4.
Hospital-Level Results From a Weighted Least Squares Regression With Weights Corresponding to the Number of Discharges per Hospital
| Variable | 2009
|
2010
|
2011
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coefficient (SE) | P value | Coefficient (SE) | P value | Coefficient (SE) | P value | |
| CDI incidence | 1.1909 (.0500) | <.001 | 1.6096 (.0593) | <.001 | 1.3011 (.0600) | <.001 |
| Hospital bed size | ||||||
| Small | 1 [Reference] | 1 [Reference] | 1 [Reference] | |||
| Medium | .0782 (.1374) | .569 | −.2108 (.1362) | .122 | .2412 (.1437) | .094 |
| Large | .4407 (.1245) | <.001 | .2704 (.1229) | .028 | .5726 (.1299) | <.001 |
| Hospital control | ||||||
| Government | 1 [Reference] | 1 [Reference] | 1 [Reference] | |||
| Private (nonprofit) | −.4635 (.1200) | <.001 | −.5868 (.1208) | <.001 | −.6954 (.1390) | <.001 |
| Private (for profit) | −.1394 (.1551) | .369 | −.1578 (.1630) | .333 | −.2744 (.1678) | .102 |
| Hospital region | ||||||
| Northeast | 1 [Reference] | 1 [Reference] | 1 [Reference] | |||
| Midwest | −.4038 (.1195) | .001 | −.5344 (.1224) | <.001 | −.5696 (.1236) | <.001 |
| South | −.1828 (.1153) | .113 | −.0216 (.1162) | .853 | −.2477 (.1186) | .037 |
| West | −.3522 (.1342) | .009 | −.3355 (.1335) | .012 | −.6358 (.1376) | <.001 |
| Location and teaching status | ||||||
| Rural | 1 [Reference] | 1 [Reference] | 1 [Reference] | |||
| Urban nonteaching | .5609 (.1375) | <.001 | .2453 (.1371) | .074 | .4476 (.1495) | .003 |
| Urban teaching | 1.0930 (.1390) | <.001 | 1.0401 (.1375) | <.001 | 1.1040 (.1534) | <.001 |
| % of RNs among licensed nurses | −.0304 (.0063) | <.001 | −.0307 (.0067) | <.001 | −.0439 (.0071) | <.001 |
| Nurses per 1,000 inpatient-days | −.0333 (.0306) | .278 | −.0073 (.0316) | .818 | .0153 (.0308) | .620 |
| N | 942 | 949 | 945 | |||
| R2 | .4494 | .5070 | .4180 | |||
Note. CDI, Clostridium difficile infection; RN, registered nurse. The dependent variable is average hospital length of stay for patients without CDI.