Table 1. The characteristics of the elderly NSC- and SC-patients.
| Total population (N = 1784) |
Non-Specific Complaints (N = 244, 13.7%) | Specific Complaints (N = 1540, 86.3%) |
P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, mean (SD) | 77.5 (7.7) | 77.6 (7.3) | 77.5 (7.7) | 0.87 |
| Male patients (%) | 824 (46.2%) | 121 (49.6%) | 703 (45.6%) | 0.25 |
| Charlson comorbidity index, mean (SD) | 2.5 (2.2) | 3.0 (2.4) | 2.4 (2.2) | <0.001* |
| Malignancy (%) | 551 (30.8%) | 103 (42.2%) | 448 (29.1%) | <0.001* |
| Dementia (%) | 104 (5.9%) | 14 (5.8%) | 90 (5.9%) | 0.92 |
| Diabetes Mellitus (%) | 414 (23.2%) | 57 (23.4%) | 357 (23.2%) | 0.16 |
| Cardiovascular (%) | 192 (10.8% | 96 (39.3%) | 96 (35.9%) | 0.35 |
| Cerebrovascular (%) | 254 (14.2%) | 42 (17.2%) | 212 (13.8%) | 0.23 |
| Pulmonary (%) | 259 (14.5%) | 33 (13.5%) | 226 (14.7%) | 0.52 |
| No. of medications, mean (SD) | 6.5 (3.9) | 7.0 (4.2) | 6.4 (3.9) | 0.04* |
| Residence (%) | 0.02* | |||
| Independently | 187 (10.5%) | 33 (13.5%) | 154 (10.0%) | |
| Home care | 164 (9.2%) | 32 (13.1%) | 132 (8.6%) | |
| Care home | 60 (3.4%) | 3 (3.5%) | 57 (3.7%) | |
| Nursing home | 79 (4.4%) | 8 (1.2%) | 71 (4.6%) | |
| Other | 44 (2.5%) | 9 (3.7%) | 35 (2.3%) | |
| Cognitive impairment (%) | 329 (18.4%) | 46 (18.9%) | 283 (18.4%) | 0.85 |
| Functional status (%) | 0.04* | |||
| 1 problem | 663 (37.2%) | 120 (49.2%) | 543 (35.3%) | |
| >1 problem | 232 (13.0%) | 57 (23.4%) | 175 (11.4%) | |
| No problem | 17 (1.0%) | 1 (0.4%) | 16 (1.0%) |
ED = Emergency department. SD = Standard deviation. P-values for NSC- vs. SC-patients: using the Chi-square test, unpaired t-test and Mann Whitney U test.
* = P<0.05.