Table 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of sudden death victims by recent health care encounter.
| Victims with medical visits within one month prior to death, N = 73 n (%) |
Victims without visits within one month prior to death, N = 191 n (%) |
p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average number of visits per person in 2 years | 14.0 | 4.6 | < 0.01 |
| Age, mean (SD) | 55.5 (8.6) | 52.5 (9.4) | <0.01 |
| Male | 45 (61.6%) | 126 (66.0%) | 0.46 |
| African-American | 31 (42.5%) | 61 (31.9%) | 0.09 |
| Medical comorbidities | |||
| Tobacco use disorder | 49 (67.1%) | 103 (53.9%) | <0.01 |
| Mental illnessa | 47 (64.4%) | 95 (49.7%) | <0.01 |
| Hypertension | 62 (84.9%) | 125 (65.4%) | <0.01 |
| Hyperlipidemia | 53 (72.6%) | 83 (43.5%) | <0.01 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 36 (49.3%) | 57 (29.8%) | <0.01 |
| Chronic respiratory disease | 37 (50.7%) | 71 (37.2%) | <0.01 |
| Coronary artery disease | 24 (32.9%) | 51 (26.7%) | 0.64 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 22 (30.1%) | 20 (10.5%) | <0.01 |
| Heart failure | 19 (26.0%) | 25 (13.1%) | <0.01 |
| Medications | |||
| Aspirin | 25 (34.2%) | 41 (21.5%) | 0.03 |
| Beta blocker | 36 (49.3%) | 55 (28.8%) | <0.01 |
| ACE-I/ARBb | 26 (35.6%) | 52 (27.2%) | 0.18 |
| Statin | 29 (39.7%) | 46 (24.1%) | 0.01 |
a
Mental illness includes depression, bipolar disease, anxiety, schizophrenia, substance abuse, and alcohol abuse.
b
ACE-I/ARB: Angiotensin Converting Enzyme/ Angiotensin II Receptor Blocker.