Table 1

Patient demographics

Participants
(n=808)
Age*80.3±9.4 (55.0–107.0)
Sex
 Male353 (43.7%)
 Female455 (56.3%)
Charlson comorbidity index*2.8±2.6 (0.0–13.0)
Marital Status
 Married or living as married282 (34.9%)
 Other506 (62.6%)
 Missing or declined20 (2.5%)
Do you live alone?
 Yes343 (42.5%)
 No444 (55.0%)
 Missing or declined21 (2.6%)
Location of last residence noted above
 Rural67 (8.3%)
 Urban712 (88.1%)
 Missing or declined29 (3.6%)
Health literacy (REALM-R) score7.3±1.5 (0.0–8.0)
Education—highest level achieved
 High school graduate172 (21.3%)
 Post high school graduate (any)329 (40.7%)
 Other285 (35.3%)
 Missing or declined22 (2.7%)
Do you identify with a formal religious group or practice?
 Protestant276 (34.2%)
 Catholic189 (23.4%)
 Other81 (10.0%)
 None237 (29.3%)
 Missing or declined25 (3.1%)
Race and language
 White (yes vs no)765 (94.7%)
 White; speaking a language other than English or French on a daily basis (yes vs no)138 (17.1%)
 Non-white; speaking a language other than English or French on a daily basis (yes vs no)26 (3.2%)
How fit or frail was the patient at this point?
 Frail (category 5–8)280 (34.7%)
 Other (category 1–4)521 (64.5%)
 Missing or declined7 (0.9%)
Inclusion criteria
 Age ≥55 years with chronic obstructive lung disease, congestive heart failure, cirrhosis, cancer and/or end-stage dementia319 (39.5%)
 Age ≥80 years and admitted to hospital from community for acute medical care team assessment477 (59.0%)
 Expected death within 6 months12 (1.5%)
Diagnosis
 Chronic obstructive lung disease122 (15.1%)
 Congestive heart failure80 (9.9%)
 Cirrhosis12 (1.5%)
 Cancer127 (15.7%)
 End-stage dementia1 (0.1%)
  • n, number of patients/family members reported ‘yes’.

  • *Mean, standard deviation (range).

  • REALM-R, Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine-Revised.