Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the study participants
| Variable | No antipsychotics [n = 40] | Antipsychotics only [n = 123] | Antipsychotics + lorazepam [n = 49] | p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 79.9 ± 6.9 | 82.2 ± 6.6 | 82.7 ± 6.6 | 0.109a |
| Male (%) | 55.0 | 57.7 | 53.1 | 0.846b |
| Place of residence before admission (%) | 0.839b | |||
| Home (with or without home care) | 75.0 | 72.4 | 69.4 | |
| Institutional care facility | 25.0 | 27.6 | 30.6 | |
| Cognition (%) | 0.119b | |||
| No cognitive impairment | 25.0 | 39.8 | 20.4 | |
| Cognitive impairment (no dementia) | 47.5 | 37.4 | 49.0 | |
| Dementia | 27.5 | 22.8 | 30.6 | |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index | 3.0 (1.0–4.0) | 3.0 (2.0–4.0) | 2.0 (1.0–4.0) | 0.262c |
| Number of prescribed drugs | 7.5 (6.0–12.5) | 9.0 (6.0–13.0) | 7.0 (5.0–9.5) | 0.061c |
| ARS score | 0.0 (0.0–1.0) | 0.0 (0.0–1.0) | 0.0 (0.0–1.0) | 0.543c |
| Laboratory markers | ||||
| C-reactive protein (mg/L) | 36.8 (14.0–104.0) | 47.3 (13.18–130.75) | 43.0 (13.5–107.5) | 0.906c |
| eGFR (mL/min) | 48.0 (30.5–64.5) | 54.0 (37.0–79.0) | 55.0 (35.5–78.0) | 0.223c |
| Hemoglobin (g/dL) | 12.7 ± 2.04 | 12.5 ± 1.98 | 12.6 ± 1.71 | 0.884a |
| White blood cell count (109/L) | 10.95 (8.6–15.27) | 10.76 (7.98–13.95) | 9.60 (7.8–13.0) | 0.399c |
| Urea (mmol/L) | 9.8 (6.28–17.5) | 9.6 (6.75–15.23) | 9.6 (6.5–15.1) | 0.908c |
| Creatinine (µmol/L) | 109.0 (81.0–136.0) | 103.0 (72.75–142.5) | 94.0 (68.5–158.0) | 0.382c |
| Sodium (mmol/L) | 138.0 (136.0–141.0) | 138.0 (135.0–141.0) | 138.0 (134.5–140.0) | 0.877c |
| Potassium (mmol/L) | 4.2 (3.7–4.8) | 4.4 (3.9–4.7) | 4.4 (4.2–4.9) | 0.169c |
| Albumin (g/L) | 35.0 (30.8–40.0) | 34.0 (31.0–38.0) | 36.0 (33.0–39.3) | 0.406c,d |
| LDT-EWS | 5.0 (3.0–9.0) | 5.0 (2.0–8.0) | 4.0 (2.5–8.0) | 0.643c,d |
| Vital signs | ||||
| Systolic blood pressure, mmHg | 140.0 (128.5–163.5) | 134.0 (118.0–158.0) | 134.0 (120.0–151.5) | 0.310c |
| Heart rate, beats/min | 88.0 (71.3–103.0) | 88.0 (77.0–102.0) | 87.0 (70.0–95.0) | 0.285c |
| Respiratory rate, breaths/min | 22.0 (16.5–28.0) | 22.5 (16.0–28.5) | 19.0 (16.0–24.0) | 0.273c,d |
| Temperature (°C) | 37.1 (36.1–38.1) | 37.0 (36.5–37.8) | 36.7 (36.5–37.2) | 0.158c |
| AVPU scoree | 0.0 (0.0–1.0) | 0.0 (0.0–1.0) | 0.0 (0.0–1.0) | 0.556c |
| MEWS | 3.0 (1.5–4.0) | 3.0 (2.0–5.0) | 2.0 (1.0–3.0) | 0.007c,d |
Data are expressed as mean ± SD for normally distributed continuous variables, median (interquartile range) for non-normally distributed continuous variables, and percentages for categorical variables
ANOVA analysis of variance, ARS Anticholinergic Risk Scale, AVPU Alert Verbal Pain Unresponsive, eGFR estimated glomerular filtration rate, LDT-EWS Laboratory Decision Tree Early Warning Score, MEWS Modified Early Warning System, SD standard deviation
aANOVA
bChi-square test
cKruskal–Wallis test
dMore than 10% missing data: albumin was available for 131 patients (26, 75, 30 patients, respectively); LDT-EWS was available for 128 patients (26, 73, 29 patients, respectively); respiratory rate was available for 130 patients (29, 78, 23 patients, respectively); MEWS was available for 129 patients (29, 77, 23 patients, respectively)
eScoring: 0 for ‘alert’; 1 for ‘reacting to vocal stimuli’; 2 for ‘reacting to pain’; 3 for ‘unresponsive’