Table I.

Patient characteristics in both PPSs (n=4561)

	n	%	Range (%) by hospital	95 % CI
Female sex	2633	57.7	31.3–80.0	56.3–59.1
Previous location of the patient
Home	1732	38.0	5.3–86.3	36.6–39.4
Long-term care facility	268	5.9	0.0–35.0	5.2–6.6
Secondary/tertiary hospital in HUS	1856	40.7	1.3–87.9	39.3–42.1
Other hospital	705	15.5	0.0–48.9	14.4–16.6
Level of care
Acute	2015	44.2	0.0–100.0	42.8–45.6
Rehabilitation	1608	35.3	0.0–84.8	33.9–36.7
Long-term	806	17.7	0.0–82.2	16.6–18.8
Terminal	132	2.9	0.0–16.2	2.4–3.4
Hospital admission in the last 3 months	2820	61.9	18.9–97.4	60.5–63.3
Surgery in the previous 30 days	545	11.9	0.0–26.5	11.0–12.8
McCabe
1	1498	32.8	2.2–88.0	31.4–34.2
2	2841	62.3	10.5–95.7	60.9–63.7
3	222	4.9	0.0–18.9	4.3–5.5
Isolation	314	6.9	0.0–19.7	6.2–7.6
Urinary catheter	613	13.4	2.2–30.3	12.4–14.4
Vascular catheter	822	18.0	0.0–85.7	16.9–19.1
Urinary and/or faecal incontinence	2891	63.4	15.5–88.0	62.0–64.8
Pressure sores	283	6.2	0.0–17.4	5.5–6.9
Other wounds	906	19.9	9.8–30.8	18.7–21.1
Dementia or disorientation	2505	54.9	26.2–73.9	53.5–56.3
Mobility
Walking with/without support	2582	56.6	26.2–87.0	55.2–58.0
Wheelchair	1230	27.0	7.0–53.0	25.7–28.3
Bedridden	749	16.4	0.0–37.8	15.3–17.5

Level of care
Acute	The patient has arrived at the primary care hospital via emergency department or because of scheduled investigations or treatment. The patient will probably be discharged to home or another health care facility.
Rehabilitation	The patient has arrived at the ward for some weeks or months for active rehabilitation investigations or treatment. The patient will probably be discharged to home or another health care facility.
Long-term	The patient's condition requires permanent long-term care.
Terminal	The patient is critically ill and may pass away during the stay at the ward. There are no active plans to discharge the patient.
McCabe classification [14]
1	Non-fatal
2	Ultimately fatal
3	Rapidly fatal