Table 2.
Characteristics of admitted patients
| Usual care period | Intervention period | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. of admissions | 1435 | 1195 | |
| No. of patients | 1378 | 1090 | |
| Mean age of patients in years ± SD | 63.8 ± 17.2 | 63.3 ± 17.1 | 0.406 |
| Gender of patients, n (%) female | 720 (50.2%) | 599 (50.1%) | 0.980 |
| Department of admission | 0.605 | ||
| General surgery, n (%) | 852 (59.4%) | 682 (57.1%) | |
| Orthopaedic surgery, n (%) | 328 (22.9%) | 294 (24.6%) | |
| Urology, n (%) | 255 (17.8%) | 219 (18.3%) | |
| Mean no. of medications the first day after admission, ± SD | 6.9 ± 5.5 | 7.2 ± 5.8 | 0.233 |
| Medication the first day after admission, n (%) | |||
| Hypoglycemics | 178 (12.4%) | 156 (13.1%) | 0.618 |
| Vitamin K antagonists | 149 (10.4%) | 117 (9.8%) | 0.616 |
| Heparin/LMWH | 951 (66.3%) | 773 (64.7%) | 0.394 |
| Thrombocyte aggregation inhibitors | 284 (19.8%) | 238 (19.9%) | 0.936 |
| Diuretics | 337 (23.5%) | 287 (24.0%) | 0.749 |
| Beta blockers | 391 (27.2%) | 305 (25.5%) | 0.318 |
| Calcium channel blockers | 146 (10.2%) | 142 (11.9%) | 0.162 |
| RAS inhibitors | 375 (26.1%) | 317 (26.5%) | 0.819 |
| NSAIDs | 485 (33.8%) | 424 (35.5%) | 0.366 |
| Opioids | 601 (41.9%) | 491 (41.1%) | 0.681 |
| Antipsychotics | 90 (6.3%) | 79 (6.6%) | 0.724 |
| Mean length of stay, days ± SD | |||
| General surgery | 7.7 ± 9.7 | 7.0 ± 8.3 | 0.154 |
| Orthopaedic surgery | 7.6 ± 8.6 | 6.7 ± 6.5 | 0.107 |
| Urology | 4.3 ± 4.8 | 4.4 ± 4.1 | 0.798 |
| MDRD eGFR of patients (ml/min/1.73 m2), n (%) | (n = 1016*) | (n = 836*) | 0.476 |
| < 10 | 4 (0.4%) | 1 (0.1%) | |
| 10–30 | 43 (4.2%) | 39 (4.7%) | |
| 30–60 | 227 (22.3%) | 203 (24.3%) | |
| > 60 | 742 (73.0%) | 593 (70.9%) | |
LMWH low molecular weight heparin, RAS renin angiotensin system, NSAIDs non-steroidal anti-Inflammatory drugs