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Table 2 Baseline characteristics and outcomes for long-stay home care recipients in Ontario, by the full frailty index

From: The prevalence and health consequences of frailty in a population-based older home care cohort: a comparison of different measures

Characteristicsa

Full Frailty Index [FI]

P-value

Robust (N = 108,676)

Pre-Frail (N = 80,155)

Frail (N = 45,721)

Sociodemographic characteristics

    

Age (years), mean ± SD

81.52 ± 7.45

82.11 ± 7.33

82.94 ± 7.42

<.001

Sex

   

<.001

 Male

38,967 (35.9 %)

27,606 (34.4 %)

16,552 (36.2 %)

 

 Female

69,709 (64.1 %)

52,549 (65.6 %)

29,169 (63.8 %)

 

Rurality Index of Ontario

   

<.001

 Major Urban

71,478 (66.1 %)

53,723 (67.4 %)

31,606 (69.6 %)

 

 Urban

25,243 (23.3 %)

17,965 (22.6 %)

9,673 (21.3 %)

 

 Rural

11,406 (10.5 %)

7,974 (10.0 %)

4,160 (9.2 %)

 

Marital status

   

<.001

 Married

42,380 (39.0 %)

31,121 (38.8 %)

18,563 (40.6 %)

 

 Never Married/Other

6,340 (5.8 %)

3,658 (4.6 %)

1,890 (4.1 %)

 

 Widowed

52,399 (48.2 %)

40,025 (49.9 %)

22,752 (49.8 %)

 

 Separated/Divorced

7,557 (7.0 %)

5,351 (6.7 %)

2,516 (5.5 %)

 

Primary caregiver

   

<.001

 No primary caregiver

3,133 (2.9 %)

1,441 (1.8 %)

607 (1.3 %)

 

 Yes, does not live with client

54,236 (49.9 %)

37,256 (46.5 %)

19,392 (42.4 %)

 

 Yes, lives with client

51,307 (47.2 %)

41,458 (51.7 %)

25,722 (56.3 %)

 

Caregiver is distressed

12,851 (11.8 %)

21,590 (26.9 %)

20,179 (44.1 %)

<.001

Total weekday hours of caregiver support during past week, mean ± SD

8.48 ± 9.67

12.93 ± 13.92

17.10 ± 19.88

<.001

Total weekend hours of caregiver support during past week, mean ± SD

3.72 ± 4.03

5.48 ± 5.67

7.09 ± 8.07

<.001

Average hours of caregiver support per day, mean ± SD

1.74 ± 1.91

2.63 ± 2.74

3.45 ± 3.93

<.001

Comorbidity

    

Number of ADG comorbidity categories

   

<.001

 0–5

16,855 (15.5 %)

10,636 (13.3 %)

5,228 (11.4 %)

 

 6–9

35,508 (32.7 %)

23,905 (29.8 %)

12,165 (26.6 %)

 

 10+

56,313 (51.8 %)

45,614 (56.9 %)

28,328 (62.0 %)

 

Health care utilization

    

Acute care hospitalization in year prior to index date

46,065 (42.4 %)

37,250 (46.5 %)

23,641 (51.7 %)

<.001

Acute care hospitalization with ALC stay in year prior to index date

8,499 (7.8 %)

9,431 (11.8 %)

7,940 (17.4 %)

<.001

Emergency department visit in year prior to index date

68,763 (63.3 %)

56,421 (70.4 %)

35,586 (77.8 %)

<.001

Number of unique prescription medications overlapping index date, mean ± SD

5.52 ± 3.49

6.58 ± 3.89

6.39 ± 4.33

<.001

Unique prescription medications overlapping index date

   

<.001

 0–5

58,246 (53.6 %)

33,155 (41.4 %)

19,719 (43.1 %)

 

 6–9

36,256 (33.4 %)

29,605 (36.9 %)

15,343 (33.6 %)

 

 10+

14,174 (13.0 %)

17,395 (21.7 %)

10,659 (23.3 %)

 

Outcomes b one year following index date

    

Death

13,212 (12.2 %)

14,307 (17.8 %)

13,525 (29.6 %)

<.001

LTC admission

9,372 (8.6 %)

15,308 (19.1 %)

15,464 (33.8 %)

<.001

Hospitalization

40,850 (37.6 %)

35,876 (44.8 %)

21,659 (47.4 %)

<.001

Hospitalization with ALC stay

11,927 (11.0 %)

12,205 (15.2 %)

7,489 (16.4 %)

<.001

  1. ADG Adjusted Diagnosis Groups, ALC Alternative Level of Care, LTC Long-Term Care, SD Standard Deviation
  2. a - Data are presented as N (column %) unless otherwise noted
  3. b - Outcome categories are not mutually exclusive