Table 2:

Baseline characteristics of inpatients who took part in the Serious Illness Care Program and the control group

VariableGroup; mean ± SD*p value
Intervention
n = 56		Control
n = 56
Age at time of conversation about serious illness, yr76.2 ± 11.880.1 ± 11.40.08
Male sex, no. (%)26 (46)25 (45)0.8
Charlson Comorbidity Index score0.9 ± 1.51.1 ± 1.30.9
No. of emergency department visits in previous year2.7 ± 2.73.6 ± 4.30.2
Arrived in emergency department by ambulance, no. (%)41 (73)50 (89)0.05
Seen in cancer clinic in previous 6 mo, no. (%)8 (14)2 (4)0.09
Laboratory values†
 Hematocrit0.34 ± 0.080.35 ± 0.060.4
 Creatinine level, μmol/L145 ± 114162 ± 1520.5
 Albumin level, g/L28 ± 5.929 ± 5.70.2
 Bilirubin level, μmol/L16 ± 1318 ± 200.7
 High-sensitivity troponin I level, ng/L, median (IQR)20 (9–71)31 (12–66)0.6‡

  • Note: IQR = interquartile range, SD = standard deviation.

  • ↵* Except where noted otherwise.

  • ↵† The most abnormal result from 48 hours before hospital admission to 6 hours after.

  • ↵‡ Mann–Whitney test used since data were not distributed normally (highly skewed).