Table 2. Characteristics of the study patients.
|
Overall sample,
n
= 311
Mean (SD) or n (%) |
|
|---|---|
| Demographics | |
| Age | 80.6 (7.3) |
| Gender (Male) | 131 (42) |
| Race (African American) | 105 (34) |
| Ethnicity (Hispanic) | 2 (0.6) |
| Hospital characteristics | |
| Length of stay, (days), median | 4 |
| Admission diagnosis | |
| 1. Acute infection 2. Altered mental status 3. Cardiovascular disease 4. COPD 5. Kidney failure 6. Dysphagia 7. Cancer 8. Other diagnoses a |
37 (12) 28 (9) 9 (3) 9 (3) 3 (1) 50 (16) 3 (1) 171 (55) |
Abbreviations: COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; SD, standard deviation.
a
Examples of other diagnoses include: gastrointestinal conditions and symptoms, cardiac/respiratory symptoms (i.e., dyspnea, chest pain, cough), neurological symptoms (i.e., difficulty walking, gait instability, weakness, falls), and anemia, missing n = 1.