Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of analytic sample
| Characteristics | All patients |
|---|---|
| (N = 236) | |
| Demographics | |
| Age, y, mean (SD) | 79.4 (6.6) |
| Male sex, n (%) | 117 (49.6) |
| Education, n (%) | |
| Primary school | 61 (25.8) |
| ETS/DSS | 54 (22.9) |
| SVE | 74 (31.4) |
| HLHS/TLE | 47 (19.9) |
| Hospital department, n (%) | |
| Cardiology | 63 (26.7) |
| Internal medicine | 133 (56.4) |
| Geriatrics | 40 (16.9) |
| Hospital admission diagnoses, n (%) | |
| Cardiac | 67 (28.4) |
| Gastrointestinal | 25 (10.6) |
| Infection | 33 (14.0) |
| Respiratory | 46 (19.5) |
| Cancer (including haematology) | 9 (3.8) |
| Electrolyte disturbance | 7 (3.0) |
| Renal | 7 (3.0) |
| Other | 42 (17.8) |
| Cognitive impairment, n (%)a | 40 (17.5) |
| Severity of comorbid diseases | |
| CCI score, mean (SD)b | 5.7 (2.0) |
SD = standard deviation; n = number of participants; y = years; PS=primary school; ETS/DSS = elementary technical school/domestic science school; SVE = secondary vocational education; HLHS/TLE = higher level high school/third-level education.
aCognitively impaired if a score of less than 24 on the MMSE at admission (range, 0–30).
bAge-combined Charlson Comorbidity Index score: a higher score indicating more or more severe comorbidity.