Skip to main content

Table 1 Patient characteristics and inter-group differences

From: Unplanned readmissions in younger and older adult patients: the role of healthcare-related adverse events

Study population

All patients

Younger patients (<65 years)

Older patients (≥65 years)

N (%) or median (range)

Total study population

Readmission group

No readmission group

p value*

Readmission group

No readmission group

p value*

Readmission group

No readmission group

p value*

N = 940

N = 163

N = 777

N = 82

N = 403

N = 81

N = 374

Age, in years

64 (16–101)

65 (17–95)

64 (16–101)

0.39

56 (1765)

50 (1665)

0.001

76 (65–95)

77 (65–101)

0.21

Sex, female

493 (52.4)

77 (47.2)

416 (53.5)

0.14

39 (47.6)

214 (53.1)

0.36

38 (46.9)

202 (54.0)

0.25

CCI

2 (011)

2 (09)

2 (011)

0.04

2 (08)

1 (011)

0.005

2 (0–9)

2 (0–9)

0.96

Number of medications useda

5.0 (0–25)

5.0 (0–21)

5.0 (0–25)

0.70

4.0 (0–21)

3.0 (0–25)

0.11

5.0 (016)

7.0 (020)

0.006

ADL dependency, yes

44 (4.7)

12 (7.4)

32 (4.1)

0.08

2 (2.4)

9 (2.2)

1.0

10 (12.3)

23 (6.1)

0.05

IADL dependency, yes

55 (5.9)

11 (6.7)

44 (5.7)

0.59

2 (2.4)

11 (2.7)

1.0

9 (11.1)

33 (8.8)

0.52

Cognitive impairmenta, yes

79 (8.4)

9 (5.5)

70 (9.0)

0.16

2 (2.4)

9 (2.2)

1.0

7 (8.6)

61 (16.3)

0.09

Living situation, nursing facility

65 (6.9)

9 (5.5)

56 (7.2)

0.50

1 (1.2)

7 (1.7)

1.0

8 (9.9)

49 (13.1)

0.58

Reason for index admission

 Gastro-intestinal

226 (24.0)

33 (20.2)

193 (24.8)

0.21

13 (15.9)

85 (21.1)

0.28

20 (24.7)

108 (28.9)

0.45

 Infection

214 (22.8)

30 (18.4)

184 (23.7)

0.14

15 (18.3)

77 (19.4)

0.86

15 (18.5)

107 (28.6)

0.06

 Malignancy

167 (17.8)

54 (33.1)

113 (14.5)

<0.001

28 (34.1)

59 (14.6)

<0.001

26 (32.1)

54 (14.4)

<0.001

 Inflammatory

83 (8.8)

16 (9.8)

67 (8.6)

0.63

12 (14.6)

45 (11.2)

0.39

4 (4.9)

22 (5.9)

1.0

 (Auto)-intoxication

67 (7.1)

1 (0.6)

66 (8.5)

<0.001

1 (1.2)

64 (15.9)

<0.001

0

2 (0.5)

1.0

 Renal and/or electrolyte problems

49 (5.2)

9 (5.5)

40 (5.1)

0.85

5 (6.1)

16 (4.0)

0.38

4 (4.9)

24 (6.4)

0.80

 Allergy/anaphylaxis

19 (2.0)

1 (0.6)

18 (2.3)

0.23

1 (1.2)

12 (3.0)

0.71

0

6 (1.6)

0.60

 Syncope

8 (0.9)

0

8 (1.0)

0.36

0

4 (1.0)

1.0

0

4 (1.1)

1.0

 Cardiac

8 (0.9)

1 (0.6)

7 (0.9)

1.0

0

2 (0.5)

1.0

1 (1.2)

5 (1.3)

1.0

 Other

99 (10.5)

18 (11.0)

81 (10.4)

0.82

7 (8.5)

39 (9.7)

0.75

11 (13.6)

42 (11.2)

0.55

AE as reason for index admission

333 (35.4)

65 (39.9)

268 (34.5)

0.19

33 (40.2)

124 (30.8)

0.10

32 (39.5)

144 (38.5)

0.87

Length of stay, days

5 (1–131)

6 (1–66)

5 (1–131)

0.20

6 (166)

4 (178)

0.01

6 (1–36)

7 (1–131)

0.44

Day of discharge, day in weekend

182 (19.4)

33 (20.2)

149 (19.2)

0.75

20 (24.4)

84 (20.8)

0.48

13 (16.0)

65 (17.4)

0.77

Season of discharge

 Spring

251 (26.7)

42 (25.8)

209 (26.9)

0.77

17 (20.7)

107 (26.6)

0.27

25 (30.9)

102 (27.3)

0.51

 Summer

243 (25.9)

47 (28.8)

196 (25.2)

0.34

24 (29.3)

109 (27.0)

0.68

23 (28.4)

87 (23.3)

0.33

 Autumn

234 (24.9)

29 (17.8)

205 (26.4)

0.02

20 (24.4)

106 (26.3)

0.72

9 (11.1)

99 (26.5)

0.002

 Winter

212 (22.6)

45 (27.6)

167 (21.5)

0.09

21 (25.6)

81 (20.1)

0.26

24 (29.6)

86 (23.0)

0.21

  1. Numbers in italic show significant differences
  2. CCI Charlson comorbidity index, ADL activity in daily living, IADL instrumental activity in daily living, AE adverse event
  3. p values are given for statistical tests between the readmission and the control groups
  4. aData of 2 patients were missing