Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the study population comprised of stroke admissions with eventual palliative/withdrawal of care, discharge to hospice, or in-hospital death, stratified by PEG status (n = 36,109).
APR-DRG: all patient refined diagnosis-related group; PEG: percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. P-values compare patients with and without PEG.
| Characteristics | No PEG (n = 33,851) | PEG (n = 2,258) |
p-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age–years: median (IQR) | 82 (72–88) | 77 (65–85) | <0.001 |
| Male–n (%) | 13,262 (39.2) | 1,129 (50.0) | <0.001 |
| Race–n (%) | <0.001 | ||
| White | 26,406 (78.0) | 1,331 (59.0) | |
| Black | 3,570 (10.6) | 512 (22.7) | |
| Hispanic | 1,969 (5.8) | 230 (10.2) | |
| Asian or Pacific Islander | 896 (2.7) | 75 (3.3) | |
| Other | 1,010 (3.0) | 110 (4.9) | |
| Stroke subtype | 0.001 | ||
| Ischemic | 24,299 (71.8) | 1,688 (74.8) | |
| Intracerebral Hemorrhage | 9,552 (28.2) | 570 (25.2) | |
| Primary expected payer–n (%) | <0.001 | ||
| Private Insurance | 4,171 (12.3) | 275 (12.2) | |
| Medicare | 26,246 (77.5) | 1,592 (70.5) | |
| Medicaid | 1,465 (4.3) | 240 (10.6) | |
| Self-pay | 980 (2.9) | 88 (3.9) | |
| No charge | 907 (2.7) | 58 (2.6) | |
| Missing | 82 (0.2) | <10 (0.2) | |
| Median household income for patient's ZIP code: quartiles–n (%) | <0.001 | ||
| Quartile 1 | 8,682 (25.7) | 751 (33.3) | |
| Quartile 2 | 8,478 (25.1) | 552 (24.5) | |
| Quartile 3 | 8,138 (24.0) | 492 (21.8) | |
| Quartile 4 | 7,880 (23.3) | 402 (17.8) | |
| Missing | 673 (2.0) | 61 (2.7) | |
| Hospital geographic region–n (%) | 0.001 | ||
| Northeast | 7,044 (20.8) | 471 (20.9) | |
| Midwest | 5,391 (15.9) | 293 (13.0) | |
| South | 14,254 (42.1) | 1,103 (48.9) | |
| West | 7,162 (21.2) | 391 (17.3) | |
| Hospital location–n (%) | <0.001 | ||
| Rural | 3,293 (9.7) | 155 (6.9) | |
| Urban | 30,157 (89.1) | 2,071 (92.7) | |
| Missing | 401 (1.2) | 32 (1.4) | |
| Teaching Hospital–n (%) | 17,307 (51.1) | 1,102 (48.8) | 0.077 |
| Hospital bed size–n (%) | <0.001 | ||
| Small/Medium | 11,031 (32.6) | 606 (26.8) | |
| Large | 22,419 (66.2) | 1,620 (71.7) | |
| Missing | 401 (1.2) | 32 (1.4) | |
| Charlson comorbidity index | <0.001 | ||
| 1 | 7,065 (20.9) | 375 (16.6) | |
| 2 | 5,455 (16.1) | 334 (14.8) | |
| 3 | 8,033 (23.7) | 541 (24.0) | |
| ≥4 | 13,298 (39.3) | 1,008 (44.6) | |
| Hypertension–n (%) | 25,600 (75.6) | 1,684 (74.6) | 0.263 |
| Diabetes Mellitus–n (%) | 9,097 (26.9) | 729 (32.3) | <0.001 |
| Dyslipidemia–n (%) | 9,918 (29.3) | 625 (27.7) | 0.101 |
| Coronary artery disease–n (%) | 5,558 (16.4) | 328 (14.5) | 0.018 |
| Congestive heart failure–n (%) | 7,674 (22.7) | 615 (27.2) | <0.001 |
| Atrial fibrillation–n (%) | 12,963 (38.3) | 808 (35.8) | 0.017 |
| Chronic kidney disease–n (%) | 5,312 (15.7) | 463 (20.5) | <0.001 |
| Anemia–n (%) | 5,146 (15.2) | 550 (24.4) | <0.001 |
| Thrombocytopenia–n (%) | 1,222 (3.6) | 119 (5.3) | <0.001 |
| Alcohol abuse–n (%) | 1,041 (3.1) | 108 (4.8) | <0.001 |
| Drug abuse–n (%) | 424 (1.3) | 51 (2.3) | <0.001 |
| APR-DRG: loss of function | <0.001 | ||
| Minor/Moderate | 6,951 (20.5) | 53 (2.4) | |
| Major | 14,632 (43.2) | 569 (25.2) | |
| Extreme | 12,266 (36.2) | 1,636 (72.5) | |
| Missing | <10 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |