Patient characteristics
| Socio-demographic variables | Surgical patients, N=21 (%) | Medical patients, N=59 (%) | Total sample, N=80 (%) |
| Sex | |||
| Male | 10 (48) | 29 (49) | 39 (49) |
| Female | 11 (52) | 30 (51) | 41 (51) |
| Education | |||
| No qualifications | 12 (57) | 22 (37) | 34 (42) |
| GSCE's | 5 (24) | 10 (17) | 15 (19) |
| A levels | 1 (5) | 7 (12) | 8 (10) |
| Undergraduate degree | 2 (9) | 10 (17) | 12 (15) |
| Postgraduate degree | 1 (5) | 10 (17) | 11 (14) |
| Ethnicity | |||
| White British | 12 (57) | 40 (68) | 52 (65) |
| White (other) | 4 (19) | 5 (8) | 9 (11) |
| Mixed (White and Black Caribbean) | 1 (5) | 2 (3) | 3 (4) |
| Mixed (White and Asia) | 1 (5) | 2 (3) | 3 (4) |
| Asian/Asian British | 1 (5) | 4 (7) | 5 (6) |
| Black/Black British (African) | 1 (5) | 3 (5) | 4 (5) |
| Chinese | 1 (5) | 3 (5) | 4 (5) |
| Employment | |||
| Employed | 5 (24) | 28 (47) | 33 (41) |
| Unemployed | 4 (19) | 3 (5) | 7 (9) |
| Retired | 12 (57) | 22 (37) | 34 (43) |
| Student | 2 (3) | 2 (3) | |
| Registered disabled | 4 (7) | 4 (5) | |
| Age | Range 29–90 years (mean 65.29, SD 17.35) | Range 22–90 (mean 50.78, SD 18.34) | Range 22–90 (mean 54.59, SD 19.1) |
| Previous number of times in hospital | Range 0–10 (mean 3.86, SD 2.89) | Range 0–30 (mean 4.59, SD 5.46) | Range 0–30 (mean 4.40, SD 4.91) |
Note: Percentages in Table 1 have been rounded off the nearest whole percent.