Table 1.
Clinical characteristics of the study groups at baseline
| Overall (n = 160) | Readmission group (n = 62) | Non-readmission group (n = 98) | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean age ± SD, y | 82.78 ± 9.84 | 85.87 ± 6.89 | 80.83 ± 10.91 | 0.001a |
| Sex, female, N (%) | 61 (38.1) | 42 (40.4) | 19 (33.9) | 0.528b |
| BMI ± SD (kg/m2) | 21.69 ± 5.27 | 20.54 ± 4.46 | 22.42 ± 5.63 | 0.021a |
| CCI, N (%) | ||||
| 0 | 20 (12.5) | 10 (9.6) | 10 (17.9) | 0.424b |
| 1 | 90 (56.2) | 62 (59.6) | 28 (50.0) | |
| 2 | 43 (26.9) | 27 (26.0) | 16 (28.6) | |
| 3 | 7 (4.4) | 5 (4.8) | 2 (3.6) | |
| > 4 | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Severity of pneumonia | ||||
| A-drop, N (%) | ||||
| Mild | 24 (15.1) | 13 (12.5) | 11 (20.0) | 0.167b |
| Moderate | 55 (34.6) | 32 (30.8) | 23 (41.8) | |
| Severe | 65 (40.9) | 48 (46.2) | 17 (30.9) | |
| Very severe | 15 (9.4) | 11 (10.6) | 4 (7.3) | |
| Nutrition status | ||||
| GNRI on admission, [IQR] | 88.95 [77.69, 94.60] | 83.88 [79.90, 91.87] | 90.27 [76.07, 96.68] | 0.006c |
| Number of drugs on admission, [IQR] | 6 [4, 8] | 6 [5, 8] | 6 [4, 8] | 0.106c |
| ADL score | ||||
| BI on admission [IQR] | 30 [17.5, 40] | 30 [17.5, 40] | 30 [17.5, 41.25] | 0.713c |
| BI at discharge [IQR] | 35 [20, 42.5] | 30 [20, 40] | 35 [20, 45] | 0.517c |
| BI change [IQR] | 0 [− 10, 20] | 0 [− 10, 16.25] | 0 [− 11.25, 20] | 0.116c |
| Assessment of the level of food consumption | ||||
| FOIS score at the start of feeding [IQR] | 4 [2, 5] | 5 [3, 5.25] | 3 [0, 4] | 0.652c |
| FOIS score at discharge [IQR] | 4 [0, 4] | 4 [2.75, 5] | 3 [0, 4] | 0.002c |
| FOIS change [IQR] | 0 [− 2, 1] | − 1 [− 2, 1] | 0 [-2, 1] | 0.029c |
| From admission to the start of feeding ± SD (days) | 5.06 ± 13.16 | 6.87 ± 18.08 | 3.91 ± 8.76 | < 0.001a |
| Rehabilitation staff intervention, n (%) | ||||
| Physical therapist | 160 (100) | 62 (100) | 98 (100) | – |
| Occupational therapist | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0.953b |
| Speech-language pathologist | 12 | 3 | 9 | 0.309b |
| Period from admission to rehabilitation ± SD (days) | 4.21 ± 1.24 | 5.21 ± 2.46 | 3.98 ± 1.24 | 0.297a |
| Length of stay ± SD (days) | 26.01 ± 25.39 | 26.92 ± 28.54 | 25.59 ± 17.07 | 0.841a |
SD standard deviation; BMI body mass index; CCI Charlson comorbidity index; IQR interquartile range; GNRI geriatric nutritional risk index; ADL activities of daily living; BI Barthel index; FOIS functional oral intake scale
aStudent’s t test
bχ2 test
cMann–Whitney U test