TABLE 2.

Analysis A: summary of parameters examined for patients with interventions in study and control groups

Parameter	Control group	Study group	Difference between study and control groupsa	SD for study group/ SD for control group	P value	95% confidence interval
No. of patients	24	52	Not applicable
HCFA severity rating	5.4	2.4	3.0	6.1/2.1	0.14	−4.9 to −1.1
Age (yr)	67.3	64.7	−2.6	19.7/20.0	0.67	−12.3 to 7.2
Mortality rate (crude rate) (%)	12.5	7.7	−4.8	Not applicable	0.68	−0.103 to 0.199
Average length of stay (days)	33.0	16.5	−16.5	14.8/39.4	0.37	−33.6 to 0.6
Average total cost ($)	51,790	21,189	−30,601	20,688/68,817	0.41	−60,132 to −1,070
Average variable cost ($)	34,919	14,033	−20,866	13,866/46,398	0.38	−40,794 to −979
Average variable cost in Pharmacy ($)	5,931	2,331	−3,600	4,788/8,379	0.31	−7,346 to 146
Average variable cost in Radiology ($)	1,105	580	−525	1,683/824	0.70	−1,267 to 216

^aNegative numbers indicate a decrease compared with the value for the study group.