Table 2:
Patient characteristics
| Characteristic | No. (%) of patients,* n = 297 |
|---|---|
| Age, mean ± SD | 79.8 ± 9.9 (55.0–107.0) |
| Sex | |
| Male | 123 (41.4) |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index, mean ± SD | 2.9 ± 2.4 (0.0–10.0) |
| Marital status | |
| Married or living as married | 100 (33.7) |
| Widowed | 113 (38.0) |
| Never married | 23 (7.7) |
| Divorced or separated; not remarried | 41 (13.8) |
| Missing | 20 (6.7) |
| Live-alone status (determined by question, “Do you live alone?”) | |
| Yes | 128 (43.1) |
| No | 149 (50.2) |
| Missing | 20 (6.7) |
| Last location of living in last month (if in hospital, then month before hospital admission) | |
| Home | 212 (71.4) |
| Retirement residence | 45 (15.2) |
| Long-term care or nursing home | 9 (3.0) |
| Ward in another hospital | 0 (0.0) |
| Other (specify) | 11 (3.7) |
| Missing | 20 (6.7) |
| Location of last residence noted above | |
| Rural | 24 (8.1) |
| Urban | 249 (83.8) |
| Declined | 3 (1.0) |
| Missing | 21 (7.1) |
| Health literacy (REALM-R†) score, mean ± SD | 7.3 ± 1.4 (1.0–8.0) |
| Education — highest level achieved | |
| Elementary school or less | 19 (6.4) |
| Some high school | 65 (21.9) |
| High school graduate | 71 (23.9) |
| Some college (including Collège d’enseignement général et professionnel)/trade school | 30 (10.1) |
| College diploma (including Diplôme d’études collégiales)/trade school | 32 (10.8) |
| Some university | 11 (3.7) |
| University degree | 40 (13.5) |
| Postgraduate | 7 (2.4) |
| Declined | 1 (0.3) |
| Missing | 21 (7.1) |
| Religion (determined by question, “Do you identify with a formal religious group or practice?”) | |
| Protestant | 96 (32.3) |
| Catholic | 61 (20.5) |
| Jewish | 2 (0.7) |
| Muslim | 5 (1.7) |
| Sikh | 0 (0.0) |
| None | 83 (27.9) |
| Other (specify) | 27 (9.1) |
| Declined | 2 (0.7) |
| Missing | 21 (7.1) |
| Race and language | |
| White | 280 (94.3) |
| Nonwhite | 17 (5.7) |
| White; speaking a language other than English or French on a daily basis | 54 (18.2) |
| Nonwhite; speaking a language other than English or French on a daily basis | 13 (4.4) |
| Frailty of patient (determined by question, “How fit or frail was the patient at this point?”) | |
| Very fit | 10 (3.4) |
| Well | 36 (12.1) |
| Managing well | 80 (26.9) |
| Vulnerable | 73 (24.6) |
| Mildly frail | 61 (20.5) |
| Moderately frail | 34 (11.4) |
| Severely frail | 3 (1.0) |
| Very severely frail | 0 (0.0) |
| Inclusion criteria | |
| Age ≥ 55 yr with COPD, congestive heart failure, cirrhosis, cancer or end-stage dementia | 136 (45.8) |
| Diagnosis | |
| COPD | 54 (18.2) |
| Congestive heart failure | 34 (11.4) |
| Cirrhosis | 5 (1.7) |
| Cancer | 51 (17.2) |
| End-stage dementia | 0 (0.0) |
| Age ≥ 80 yr and admitted to hospital from community for acute medical care team assessment | 156 (52.5) |
| Expected death within 6 mo | 5 (1.7) |
Note: COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, REALM-R = Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine, Revised, SD = standard deviation.
*
Unless stated otherwise.
†
The REALM-R Health Literacy score ranges from 0 to 8, with a higher score representing a greater degree of health literacy.