Table 1. Patient characteristics of the cohort.
| Patient characteristics at hospital discharge | n | % | Blanc et al. n (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of patients | 5,985 | - | 7,317 (-) |
| SQLape defined PAR cases | 340 | 5.7 | 562 (7.7) |
| Age | |||
| 65–75 years | 4,071 | 68.0 | 1,555 (21.3) |
| ≥76 years | 1,914 | 32.0 | 2,896 (39.6) |
| Male sex | 2,808 | 46.9 | 3,993 (54.6) |
| Length of hospital stay: | |||
| ≤4 days | 1,570 | 26.2 | 2,259 (30.9) |
| >4 days | 4,415 | 73.8 | 5,058 (69.1) |
| Admission in previous 6 months | 1,360 | 22.7 | 2,041 (27.9) |
| Opioids* | 1,589 | 26.5 | 1,795 (24.5) |
| Number of drugs dispensed | |||
| <5 | 115 | 1.9 | 1,671 (22.8) |
| 6 to 10 | 4,687 | 78.3 | 2,469 (33.7) |
| >10 | 1,183 | 19.8 | 3,177 (43.3) |
| Hyperkalaemia (K+ >5.5 mmol/L)* | 16 | 0.3 | 685 (9) |
| Comorbidity | |||
| Acute myocardial infarction | 275 | 4.6 | 1,048 (14.3) |
| Acute respiratory disease | 981 | 16.4 | 1,260 (17.2) |
| AIDS | 0 | 0.0 | 25 (0.3) |
| Anaemia | 1,235 | 20.6 | 2,138 (29.2) |
| Arrhythmia | 2,131 | 35.6 | 1,342 (18.3) |
| Cancer | 629 | 10.5 | 762 (10.4) |
| Metastatic carcinoma | 408 | 6.8 | 280 (3.8) |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 917 | 15.3 | 268 (3.7) |
| COPD/asthma | 776 | 13.0 | 1,043 (14.3) |
| Chronic ischemic heart disease | 1,512 | 25.3 | 497 (6.8) |
| Cognitive troubles/dementia | 741 | 12.4 | 201 (2.8) |
| Connective tissue disease | 90 | 1.5 | 64 (0.9) |
| Diabetes with organ damage | 467 | 7.8 | 152 (2.1) |
| Gastrointestinal ulcer | 137 | 2.3 | 100 (1.4) |
| Hepatic cirrhosis | 69 | 1.2 | 276 (3.8) |
| Heart failure | 1,361 | 22.7 | 1,314 (18.0) |
| Hypertension | 4,165 | 69.6 | 1,723 (23.6) |
| Infectious disease (except pneumonia and sepsis) | 1,733 | 29.0 | 1,655 (22.6) |
| Intoxication or adverse drug reactions | 87 | 1.5 | 918 (12.6) |
| Mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol | 238 | 4.0 | 639 (8.7) |
| Paraplegia/hemiplegia | 197 | 3.3 | 84 (1.2) |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 543 | 9.1 | 186 (2–5) |
| Pneumonia | 619 | 10.3 | 1,353 (18.5) |
| Renal failure | 1,461 | 24.4 | 1,678 (22.9) |
| Sepsis | 189 | 3.2 | 542 (7.4) |
Notes: SQLape = Striving for Quality Level and Analyzing of Patient Expenses software [11]; PAR = Potentially avoidable readmissions; AIDS = Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; COPD = Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
* = variables with missing values.