Table 1.
Comparison of the Matched Cohorts
| Admitted Cohort n=58 712 | Palliative Cohort n=1431 | Matched Cohort n=1431 | Standardized Differencea | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) or % (n) | Mean (SD) or % (n) | Mean (SD) or % (n) | Palliative vs Matched | Palliative vs Admitted | |
| Demographics | |||||
| Age, y | 70.85 (11.39) | 75.84 (11.14) | 75.70 (11.02) | 0.01 | 0.44 |
| Men | 98.15 (57 626) | 98.67 (1412) | 98.60 (1411) | 0.01 | 0.04 |
| Race | 0.00 | 0.15 | |||
| White | 74.77 (43 897) | 80.57 (1153) | 80.92 (1158) | ||
| Black | 23.39 (13 730) | 18.03 (258) | 17.96 (257) | ||
| Other | 1.85 (1085) | 1.40 (20) | 1.12 (16) | ||
| Comorbidities | |||||
| MI | 22.08 (12 965) | 29.91 (428) | 30.89 (442) | −0.02 | 0.18 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 54.06 (31 741) | 50.73 (726) | 49.34 (706) | 0.03 | −0.07 |
| Lymphoma | 1.73 (1017) | 2.24 (32) | 1.75 (25) | 0.04 | 0.04 |
| Solid tumor | 13.70 (8042) | 18.94 (271) | 18.52 (265) | 0.01 | 0.14 |
| Metastatic disease | 1.38 (812) | 4.05 (58) | 3.42 (49) | 0.03 | 0.16 |
| Elixhauser | 5.43 (2.86) | 6.26 (2.98) | 6.25 (2.88) | 0.01 | 0.29 |
| Laboratory data | |||||
| Renal function | |||||
| Blood urea nitrogen | 26.63 (14.13) | 32.49 (15.58) | 32.75 (16.85) | −0.02 | 0.39 |
| Creatinine | 1.54 (0.87) | 1.71 (0.90) | 1.73 (0.99) | −0.02 | 0.19 |
| Sodium | 138.50 (3.97) | 138.06 (4.67) | 138.11 (4.20) | −0.01 | −0.10 |
| Brain natriuretic peptide | 1415 (1292) | 1753 (1479) | 1750 (1601) | 0.00 | 0.24 |
| Potassium | 4.17 (0.54) | 4.25 (0.59) | 4.24 (0.56) | 0.01 | 0.13 |
| Hematocrit | 37.09 (6.09) | 36.22 (6.32) | 35.89 (6.03) | 0.05 | −0.14 |
| Clinical data | |||||
| Ejection fraction | 40.19 (16.28) | 36.96 (17.40) | 36.81 (15.90) | 0.01 | −0.19 |
| Blood pressure (mean arterial) | 97.78 (15.32) | 92.06 (14.51) | 91.64 (15.09) | 0.03 | −0.38 |
| Pulse | 80.80 (16.79) | 81.92 (17.18) | 81.77 (16.49) | 0.01 | 0.07 |
| Body mass index | 31.45 (7.52) | 29.34 (6.96) | 29.20 (6.71) | 0.02 | −0.29 |
| Usage data | |||||
| Hospitalizations in prior 12 mo (mean, n) | 1.06 (1.50) | 1.62 (2.02) | 1.39 (1.69) | 0.12 | 0.31 |
| Mean hospitalization length in prior 12 mo, d | 7.70 (22.99) | 10.43 (22.37) | 9.88 (25.25) | 0.02 | 0.12 |
| Days alive after index admission | 1183 (865) | 553 (629) | 553 (608) | 0.00 | −0.83 |
| Death in 6 mo after index admission | 14.54 (8535) | 39.90 (571) | 37.88 (542) | 0.04 | 0.59 |
| Baseline cost | |||||
| Total cost in prior 12 mo | 32 729 (47 040) | 43 363 (53 359) | 42 076 (57 756) | 0.02 | 0.21 |
MI indicates myocardial infarction.
a
The standardized difference is the difference of the group means divided by the standard deviation of the cohort.