Patient characteristics, health care utilization and discharge disposition
| Characteristic | Total cohort n = 601 | Nonavoidable n = 534 | Avoidable n = 67 | p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, yr, mean ± SD | 71 ± 18 | 72 ± 18 | 65 ± 20 | 0.007 |
| Sex, female, no. (%) | 316 (53) | 255 (48) | 37 (55) | 0.6 |
| Time of admission, no. (%) | ||||
| Daytime* | 83 (14) | 76 (14) | 7 (10) | 0.6 |
| Evening† | 190 (32) | 170 (31) | 20 (30) | |
| Night‡ | 328 (55) | 288 (54) | 40 (60) | |
| Day of week, no. (%) | ||||
| Weekday§ | 393 (65) | 352 (66) | 41 (61) | 0.4 |
| Weekend¶ | 208 (35) | 182 (34) | 26 (39) | |
| ED consults day of admission, mean ± SD | 15 ± 3 | 15 ± 3 | 16 ± 3 | 0.5 |
| ED consults in preceding 48 h, mean ± SD | 28 ± 5 | 28 ± 4 | 26 ± 4 | 0.4 |
| CIHI Case Mix Groups** | 1.09 (1.34) | 1.16 (1.34) | 0.49 (1.02) | < 0.001 |
| Length of stay, h, median (IQR) | 95 (159) | 105 (158) | 29 (91) | < 0.001 |
| Resource Intensity Weights†† | 1.42 (2.54) | 1.50 (2.68) | 0.72 (2.54) | < 0.001 |
| Health care utilization, no. (%) | ||||
| CT, head | 47 (8) | 4 (8) | 3 (4) | 0.3 |
| MRI, brain and spine | 61 (10) | 50 (9) | 11 (17) | 0.07 |
| Discharge destination,‡‡ no. (%) | ||||
| Home with supports | 123 (20) | 112 (21) | 11 (16) | 0.008 |
| Home without supports | 312 (52) | 271 (51) | 41 (61) | |
| Assisted living | 51 (8) | 43 (8) | 8 (12) | |
| Rehabilitation | 61 (10) | 57 (11) | 4 (6) | |
| Palliative care unit | 13 (2) | 13 (2) | 0 | |
| Transitional unit | 9 (2) | 9 (2) | 0 | |
| Another care facility | 6 (1) | 6 (1) | 0 | |
| Deceased | 16 (3) | 16 (3) | 0 | |
| Against medical advice | 10 (2) | 7 (1) | 3 (4) | |
Note: CIHI = Canadian Institute for Health Information, CT = computed tomography, ED = emergency department, IQR = interquartile range, MRI = magnetic resonance imaging, SD = standard deviation.
↵* Daytime (8 am to 4:59 pm).
↵† Evening (5 pm to 12 am).
↵‡ Night (12:01 am to 7:59 am).
↵§ Weekday (Monday, 8 am to Friday, 5 pm).
↵¶ Weekend (Friday, 5:01 pm to Monday, 7:59 am). No significant findings comparing daytime versus evening or night, or typical working hours versus evening and weekend.
↵** CIHI Case Mix Groups are a commonly used health service methodology designed to aggregate acute care inpatients with similar clinical- and resource-utilization characteristics for comparisons.
↵†† Resource Intensity Weights is a CIHI-derived estimate of the cost to provide care relative to the average typical inpatient.
↵‡‡ χ2 test compared home and home with supports/nursing home/retirement home/group home versus all other locations (rehab, transitional unit, etc.).