Table 1.
Characteristics of admissions before and after the policy change
| Characteristics | Internal department A | Internal department B | All | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before | After | All | p-value | Before | After | All | p-value | Before | After | All | p-value | |
| Number of admissions | 4432 | 6028 | 10,460 | 4151 | 5934 | 10,085 | 8583 | 11,962 | 20,545 | |||
| Female (%) | 53% | 52% | 53% | 0.337 | 51% | 52% | 52% | 0.115 | 52% | 52% | 52% | 0.691 |
| Age | ||||||||||||
| Mean (years) | 77.9 | 77.5 | 77.7 | 0.165 | 75.5 | 76.3 | 76.0 | 0.011 | 76.7 | 76.9 | 76.8 | 0.417 |
| Median (years) | 82 | 81 | 81 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 81 | 81 | 81 | |||
| 18–45 (%) | 4% | 4% | 4% | 0.247 | 6% | 6% | 6% | 0.177 | 5% | 5% | 5% | 0.629 |
| 45–64 (%) | 12% | 13% | 12% | 14% | 13% | 14% | 13% | 13% | 13% | |||
| 65–74 (%) | 15% | 16% | 15% | 16% | 17% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 16% | |||
| 75–84 (%) | 30% | 29% | 29% | 29% | 28% | 28% | 29% | 29% | 29% | |||
| 85+ (%) | 40% | 39% | 39% | 35% | 36% | 36% | 37% | 38% | 37% | |||
| Hospitalization in the year prior to admission | ||||||||||||
| Mean (number) | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.898 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 0.117 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.334 |
| 0 (%) | 33% | 33% | 33% | 0.417 | 36% | 34% | 35% | 0.044 | 34% | 33% | 34% | 0.209 |
| 1–2 (%) | 39% | 39% | 39% | 37% | 37% | 37% | 38% | 38% | 38% | |||
| 3–5 (%) | 21% | 20% | 21% | 19% | 21% | 20% | 20% | 21% | 20% | |||
| 6+ (%) | 8% | 8% | 8% | 7% | 8% | 8% | 8% | 8% | 8% | |||
| Charlson Comorbidity Index | ||||||||||||
| CCI 0 (%) | 28% | 25% | 26% | < 0.001 | 28% | 28% | 28% | 0.080 | 28% | 26% | 27% | < 0.001 |
| CCI 1–2 (%) | 47% | 46% | 47% | 45% | 45% | 45% | 46% | 46% | 46% | |||
| CCI 3–4 (%) | 19% | 22% | 21% | 21% | 21% | 21% | 20% | 21% | 21% | |||
| CCI > =5 (%) | 5% | 8% | 7% | 5% | 7% | 6% | 5% | 7% | 6% | |||
| Length of stay | ||||||||||||
| Mean (days) | 10.2 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 0.962 | 10.9 | 10.2 | 10.5 | 0.012 | 10.5 | 10.2 | 10.3 | 0.072 |
| SD (days) | 13.4 | 14.0 | 13.7 | 15.3 | 13.4 | 14.2 | 14.4 | 13.7 | 14.0 | |||
| Median (days) | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | |||
| 0–1 (%) | 5% | 4% | 4% | 0.002 | 4% | 4% | 4% | 0.001 | 5% | 4% | 4% | < 0.001 |
| 2–3 (%) | 16% | 18% | 17% | 16% | 20% | 18% | 16% | 19% | 18% | |||
| 4–5 (%) | 19% | 20% | 20% | 20% | 21% | 21% | 20% | 21% | 20% | |||
| 6–7 (%) | 16% | 17% | 17% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 16% | |||
| 8–10 (%) | 15% | 15% | 15% | 14% | 13% | 14% | 15% | 14% | 14% | |||
| 11–15 (%) | 13% | 11% | 12% | 12% | 10% | 11% | 13% | 11% | 11% | |||
| 16–20 (%) | 6% | 5% | 6% | 6% | 5% | 6% | 6% | 5% | 6% | |||
| 21–30 (%) | 5% | 5% | 5% | 6% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | |||
| > 30 (%) | 5% | 5% | 5% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 5% | 5% | 5% | |||
| Number of admissions per month | 120 | 137 | 129 | 112 | 135 | 125 | 232 | 272 | 254 | |||
| Number of hospitalized patients per day* | 40 | 46 | 43 | 40 | 45 | 43 | 80 | 91 | 86 | |||
* Calculated as the total number of hospitalization days divided by the number of days within the time-period