Table 2

Comparison of the characteristics of patients who died having experienced a problem in care that contributed to their death with those that did not

Characteristic	Patients with problem/s in care contributing to death n=131	Patients with no problems in care contributing to death n=869	p Value
Age
Mean (SD)	76.7 (13.4)	78.8 (12.4)	0.07
Median (IQR)	80 (50.5–83.0)	82 (73.0–87.0)	0.16
Male (%)	54 (41.2)	409 (47.0)	0.21
Admitting specialty (%)
Medical specialties	97 (76.4))	715 (87.3)	0.01
Surgical specialties	30 (23.6)	104 (12.7)	0.01
Not known	4	50
Comorbid conditions
Mean (SD)	4.2 (2.4)	3.8 (2.5)	0.09
Type of admission (%)
Elective	12 (9.4)	42 (4.5)	0.02
Emergency	116 (90.6)	795 (95.5)	0.02
Not known	3	32
Functional impairment on admission (%)
None^*	6 (4.9)	8 (1.1)	0.02
Mild impairment^†	35 (28.5)	77 (10.9)	<0.0001
Moderate impairment^‡	25 (20.3)	116 (16.4)	0.28
Severe impairment^§	57 (46.3)	508 (71.7)	<0.0001
Not known	8	160
Estimated life expectancy on admission (%)
<24 h	4 (3.3)	49 (6.1)	0.22
1–7 days	6 (5.0)	257 (32.0)	<0.0001
1–4 weeks	9 (7.4)	185 (22.9)	0.001
1–5 months	20 (16.5)	138 (17.2)	0.85
6–12 months	27 (22.3)	89 (11.1)	<0.0001
1–4 years	35 (28.9)	75 (9.3)	<0.0001
5–9 years	14 (11.6)	8 (1.0)	<0.0001
10–19 years	4 (3.3)	3 (0.4)	0.0007
>20 years	2 (1.6)	0 (0)	0.0003
Missing	10	65
Estimated life expectancy in years on admission
Mean (SD)	2.1 (4.3)	0.35 (1.0)	<0.0001
Median (IQR)	0.5 (0.25–2.0)	0.05 (0.01–0.25)	<0.0001

↵* Normal, no complaints or evidence of disease.
↵† Able to perform normal activity; minor signs and symptoms of disease/able to perform normal activity with effort; some signs and symptoms of disease.
↵‡ Cares for self, unable to perform normal activity or to do active work/requires occasional assistance but is able to care for most of own needs.
↵§ Requires considerable assistance and frequent medical care/requires special care and assistance; disabled.