Table 1.
Characteristics of Veterans Affairs Patients Who Died during Acute Hospitalization
| All Decedents (N = 57,550) | No-ICU Care (n = 18,157) | ICU-Only Care (n = 11,111) | P Value | Standardized Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, mean (SD), yr | 72.5 (11.8) | 75.5 (12.1) | 70.1 (11.4) | <0.001 | 0.46 |
| Sex, M | 56,226 (97.7) | 17,764 (97.8) | 10,819 (97.4) | 0.010 | 0.03 |
| Race | |||||
| African American | 11,017 (19.1) | 3,182 (17.5) | 2,256 (20.3) | <0.001 | 0.07 |
| White | 41,770 (72.6) | 13,547 (74.6) | 7,902 (71.1) | 0.08 | |
| Asian and other | 919 (1.6) | 248 (1.4) | 216 (1.9) | 0.04 | |
| Unknown | 3,844 (6.7) | 1,180 (6.5) | 737 (6.6) | 0.00 | |
| Next of kin | |||||
| Spouse | 22,897 (39.8) | 7,032 (38.7) | 4,669 (42.0) | <0.001 | 0.07 |
| Parent | 2,227 (3.9) | 572 (3.2) | 518 (4.7) | 0.08 | |
| Child | 18,466 (32.1) | 6,315 (34.8) | 3,226 (29.0) | 0.12 | |
| Sibling | 7,714 (13.4) | 2,187 (12.0) | 1,570 (14.1) | 0.06 | |
| Other | 6,246 (10.9) | 2,051 (11.3) | 1,128 (10.2) | 0.04 | |
| Elixhauser index, mean (SD) | 10.6 (9.8) | 11.9 (10.1) | 10.0 (9.8) | <0.001 | 0.20 |
| High-complexity facility* | 49,798 (86.5) | 14,758 (81.3) | 9,940 (89.5) | <0.001 | 0.23 |
| Length of terminal hospitalization | |||||
| Under 3 d | 13,061 (22.7) | 5,343 (29.4) | 4,313 (38.8) | <0.001 | 0.20 |
| 3–6.9 d | 14,861 (25.8) | 5,766 (31.8) | 2,915 (26.2) | 0.12 | |
| 7–13.9 d | 14,6061 (24.4) | 4,308 (23.7) | 2,057 (18.5) | 0.13 | |
| 14 d or longer | 15,567 (27.0) | 2,740 (15.1) | 1,826 (16.4) | 0.04 | |
| Number of care transitions† | |||||
| None | 21,508 (37.4) | 11,539 (63.6) | 9,969 (89.7) | <0.001 | 0.65 |
| One | 17,091 (29.7) | 4,468 (24.6) | 998 (9.0) | 0.43 | |
| Two | 9,447 (16.4) | 1,445 (8.0) | 116 (1.0) | 0.34 | |
| Three or more | 9,504 (16.5) | 705 (3.9) | 28 (0.3) | 0.25 | |
| Palliative care consultation in last 90 d of life | 21,881 (38.0) | 8,017 (44.2) | 3,486 (31.4) | <0.001 | 0.27 |
| Do-not-resuscitate order‡ | 22,459 (84.3) | 7,316 (87.5) | 4,228 (82.0) | <0.001 | 0.15 |
| Chaplain visit with patient/family§ | 23,429 (66.3) | 6,837 (60.9) | 4,396 (65.0) | <0.001 | 0.09 |
All values are shown as n (%) unless otherwise noted.
*
Low complexity includes Veterans Affairs facility levels 2 and 3. High complexity includes levels 1a to 1c.
†
Changes in physical location or specialty of primary care team. Transitions for ICU patients include transfers from one ICU setting to another (e.g., from a medical ICU to a surgical ICU or vice versa).
‡
Data from 2010 to 2012 only.
§
Data from 2010 to 2013 only.