Table 1: Demographic and baseline characteristics of intervention and comparison group.
| Characteristic | Intervention group (n = 53) |
Non-MERA comparison group (n = 51) |
p value for difference between intervention and comparison groups |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, yr, mean ± SD | 79.6 ± 11.7 | 79.2 ± 13.4 | 0.9* |
| Sex, male, n (%) | 30 (57) | 19 (37) | 0.048† |
| Mean hospital length of stay, mean ± SD | 10.6 ± 8.4 | 7.7 ± 17.0 | 0.3* |
| Admission diagnosis, n (%) | |||
| Cancer | 10 (19) | 10 (20) | |
| Cardiovascular (e.g., stroke, myocardial infarction) | 6 (11) | 9 (18) | |
| Respiratory (e.g., COPD exacerbation, pneumonia) | 12 (23) | 7 (14) | |
| Gastrointestinal (e.g., gastrointestinal bleed, cirrhosis) | 9 (17) | 6 (12) | |
| Other (e.g., failure to cope) | 16 (30) | 19 (37) | |
| Main criterion for inclusion, n (%) | 0.6† | ||
| Age > 80 yr | 22 (42) | 23 (45) | |
| Metastatic cancer | 20 (38) | 21 (41) | |
| End-stage organ failure | 11 (21) | 7 (14) | |
| Medications at the time of enrolment (intervention group) or day 3 of admission (comparison group), mean ± SD | 13.3 ± 6.1 | 10.9 ± 4.5 | 0.03‡ |
| Clinical Frailty Score, n (%) | |||
| 1-3 | 21 (40) | NA | |
| 4-5 | 18 (35) | NA | |
| 6-8 | 13 (25) | NA | |
| Followed by a palliative care consultant before MERA intervention | 12 (23) | NA |
Note: COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, MERA = Medication Rationalization, NA = not available, SD = standard deviation.
*t test.
†χ2 test.
‡ Mann-Whitney U test.