Demographic and medical characteristics of study participants at enrolment
| Characteristic | No. (%) of participants*; GCD type at enrolment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All n = 475 | Resuscitative GCD n = 177 | Medical GCD n = 248 | Comfort GCD n = 20 | No GCD n = 30 | |
| Patient characteristics | |||||
| Age at enrolment, yr, median (IQR) | 83 (77–87) | 81 (75–86) | 85 (80–89) | 79 (70–86) | 80 (71–84) |
| Sex, female | 249 (52.4) | 87 (49.2) | 131 (52.8) | 9 (45.0) | 22 (73.3) |
| Race and ethnicity, white† | 439 (92.4) | 160 (90.4) | 233 (94.0) | 18 (90.0) | 28 (93.3) |
| Educational attainment | |||||
| Less than high school | 159 (33.5) | 52 (29.4) | 88 (35.5) | 4 (20.0) | 15 (50.0) |
| High school | 112 (23.6) | 42 (23.7) | 58 (23.4) | 4 (20.0) | 8 (26.7) |
| College (some or complete) | 101 (21.3) | 37 (20.9) | 54 (21.8) | 6 (30.0) | 4 (13.3) |
| University (any level) | 77 (16.2) | 42 (23.7) | 47 (19.0) | 6 (30.0) | 3 (10.0) |
| Missing | 5 (1.1) | 4 (2.3) | 1 (0.4) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Residence before admission‡ | |||||
| Home | 354 (74.5) | 138 (78.0) | 176 (71.0) | 14 (70.0) | 26 (86.7) |
| Retirement residence | 81 (17.1) | 31 (17.5) | 44 (17.7) | 4 (20.0) | 2 (6.7) |
| Long-term care | 37 (7.8) | 6 (3.4) | 27 (10.9) | 2 (10.0) | 2 (6.7) |
| Other | 3 (0.6) | 2 (1.1) | 1 (0.4) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Weighted Charlson Comorbidity Index score§ | |||||
| Low (0–2) | 294 (61.9) | 124 (70.1) | 146 (58.9) | 4 (20.0) | 20 (66.7) |
| Moderate–high (≥ 3) | 181 (38.1) | 53 (29.9) | 102 (41.1) | 16 (80.0) | 10 (33.3) |
| Clinical Frailty Scale score§ | |||||
| Well (1–3) | 135 (28.4) | 69 (39.0) | 54 (21.8) | 1 (5.0) | 11 (36.7) |
| Mildly frail (4–6) | 315 (66.3) | 100 (56.5) | 182 (73.4) | 16 (80.0) | 17 (56.7) |
| Severely frail (7–9) | 25 (5.3) | 8 (4.5) | 12 (4.8) | 3 (15.0) | 2 (6.7) |
| Died during index admission | 35 (7.4) | 6 (3.4) | 23 (9.3) | 4 (20.0) | 2 (6.7) |
| City¶ | |||||
| Calgary | 240 (50.5) | 71 (40.1) | 145 (58.5) | 14 (70.0) | 5 (16.7) |
| Edmonton | 140 (29.5) | 45 (25.4) | 74 (29.8) | 5 (25.0) | 16 (53.3) |
| Lethbridge | 95 (20.0) | 56 (31.6) | 29 (11.7) | 1 (5.0) | 9 (30.0) |
| Inclusion characteristics | |||||
| Age ≥ 80 yr, no condition | 283 (59.6) | 112 (63.3) | 150 (60.5) | 15 (75.0) | 15 (50.0) |
| “Surprise question”§ | 4 (0.8) | 1 (0.6) | 2 (0.8) | 0 (0) | 1 (3.3) |
| Age ≥ 55 yr, with condition | 188 (39.6) | 64 (36.2) | 96 (38.7) | 14 (70.0) | 14 (46.7) |
| Chronic obstructive lung disease | 72 (15.2) | 28 (15.8) | 36 (14.5) | 1 (5.0) | 7 (23.3) |
| Cancer | 67 (14.1) | 13 (7.3) | 39 (15.7) | 13 (65.0) | 2 (6.7) |
| Congestive heart failure | 36 (7.6) | 12 (6.8) | 22 (8.9) | 0 (0) | 2 (6.7) |
| Renal failure | 17 (3.6) | 9 (5.1) | 6 (2.4) | 0 (0) | 2 (6.7) |
| Cirrhosis | 7 (1.5) | 4 (2.3) | 2 (0.8) | 0 (0) | 1 (3.3) |
Note: GCD = Goals of Care Designation, IQR = interquartile range.
↵* Unless stated otherwise.
↵† Race and ethnicity as self-reported by participants. Other responses for self-reported race and ethnicity included Asian (n = 20), Aboriginal (n = 10) and Black (n = 5). Data missing for 1 participant.
↵‡ Long-term care description includes nursing homes and residential care as 1 category; “other” includes rehabilitation facility (n = 1), hospital (n = 1) and other not specified (n = 1).
↵§ For weighted Charlson Comorbidity Index score, see references (30), (31) and Methods, for Clinical Frailty Scale score see reference (29) and Methods, for “surprise question” see references (15), (16) and Methods.
↵¶ Calgary sampling at Foothills Medical Centre (units 32, 46, 47, 61) n = 93, Peter Lougheed Centre (units 38, 39, 42, 43, 49) n = 53, Rockyview General Hospital (units 72, 73, 93, 94) n = 94; Edmonton sampling at Grey Nuns Community Hospital (units 45, 51, 53, 54) n = 76, Royal Alexandra Hospital (units 41, 44, 51–53, 5E, 5W, 6E, SW) n = 24, University of Alberta Hospital (units 5A4, 5D3, 5D4, 5F2, 5F3, 500, 5000, 50 000) n = 40; Lethbridge sampling at Chinook Regional Hospital (units 4B, 4C) n = 95.