Table 1.
Descriptive data for patients in municipal emergency beds (N = 60).
| Variable | Number of patients |
|---|---|
| Age (median and range), years | 83 (37–98) |
| Women | 34 |
| Men | 26 |
| Referring doctor | |
| Doctor at out-of-hours services | 33 |
| General practitioner | 27 |
| Number of known diagnoses (mean and range) | 3 (0–8) |
| Pre-existing comorbidities on admissiona | |
| Hypertension | 24 |
| Heart disease, including arrhythmia | 24 |
| COPD | 15 |
| Diabetes | 13 |
| Cancer | 11 |
| Arthritis or arthrosis | 10 |
| Dementia | 10 |
| Vascular disease, for example stroke | 9 |
| Osteoporosis | 8 |
| Depression | 6 |
| Other diagnoses | 25 |
| Length of stay in MEB (median and range), days | 3 (0–7) |
Number of patients, if not otherwise indicated.
a
Most patients had more than one pre-existing diagnosis.