Table 2.
Baseline characteristics of the ITT population (N = 480)
| Characteristics | Intervention group n = 244 | Control group n = 236 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, mean years (SD) | 83.3 | (6.4) | 83.0 | (6.3) | |
| Sex, female, n (%) | 152 | (62.3) | 127 | (53.8) | |
| Study Site, n (%) | |||||
| Geriatric ward (study site 1) | 198 | (81.1) | 191 | (80.9) | |
| General medicine ward (study site 2)a | 46 | (18.9) | 45 | (19.1) | |
| Ability to self-provide consent, n (%) | 174 | (71.3) | 160 | (67.8) | |
| Marital status, n (%) | |||||
| Widow/widower | 107 | (43.9) | 104 | (44.1) | |
| Married/live in partnership | 101 | (41.4) | 88 | (37.2) | |
| Single/ Divorced/separated | 34 | (13.9) | 41 | (17.4) | |
| Missing | 2 | (0.8) | 3 | (1.3) | |
| Educational level, ISCED levelb n (%) | |||||
| Elementary school, level 1 | 107 | (43.9) | 109 | (46.2) | |
| Lower/upper Secondary education, level 2–3 | 93 | (38.1) | 81 | (34.3) | |
| Higher education (< 4 years), level 5–6 | 22 | (9.0) | 18 | (7.6) | |
| Higher education (> 4 years), level 7–9 | 11 | (4.5) | 12 | (5.1) | |
| Missing | 11 | (4.5) | 16 | (6.8) | |
| Living status upon admission, n (%) | |||||
| Home, no help from home care services | 88 | (36.1) | 69 | (29.2) | |
| Home, with help from home care services | 116 | (47.5) | 139 | (58.9) | |
| Nursing home, short term | 22 | (9.0) | 13 | (5.5) | |
| Nursing home, permanent | 18 | (7.4) | 15 | (6.4) | |
| Discharge to home, n (%) | 151 | (61.9) | 132 | (55.9) | |
| Handling medications themselves, n (%) | |||||
| Yes | 94 | (38.5) | 80 | (33.9) | |
| No | 104 | (42.6) | 101 | (42.8) | |
| Partly | 46 | (18.9) | 54 | (22.9) | |
| Missing | 0 | 1 | (0.4) | ||
| Co-morbidityc (median score, IQR) | |||||
| Charlson comorbidity index | 2 | (1–3.75) | 2 | (1–4) | |
| Number of medications (ATC-codes) in use at hospital admission, Median (IQR) | |||||
| Total | 8 | (5–12) | 9 | (6–13) | |
| Regular use | 6 | (4–9) | 7 | (4–10) | |
| Use as needed | 2 | (0–3) | 2 | (0–3) | |
| Medical history in admission notes, n (%) | |||||
| Hypertension | 125 | (51.5) | 113 | (47.9) | |
| Atrial fibrillation | 67 | (27.5) | 65 | (27.5) | |
| Asthma or COPD | 55 | (22.5) | 53 | (22.5) | |
| Diabetes Mellitus | 50 | (20.5) | 52 | (22.0) | |
| Heart failure | 40 | (16.4) | 36 | (15.3) | |
| Dementia | 34 | (13.9) | 32 | (13.6) | |
| Emergency medical visits, one year before index hospital stay | |||||
| Emergency medical visits, n (% with ≥ 1) | 462 | (68.4) | 548 | (72.5) | |
| Emergency medical visits, median (IQR) | 1 | (0–3) | 1 | (0–3) | |
Abbrevations: ATC anatomical therapeutic chemical classification system, IRQ interquartile range, ISCED international standard classification of education, SD standard deviation
a) no specialized geriatric ward existed at this hospital, but four beds in the study ward was dedicated to patients with geriatric concerns
b) educational level categorized by the international standard classification of education [31]
c) co-morbidity based on diagnosis found in admission and discharge papers from index admission, calculated in accordance with Charlson et al. [32]