Patient characteristics in the two study groups
| Characteristics | Usual care n=698 | e-DCT n=701 |
| Male | 373 (53.4%) | 377 (46.6%) |
| Mean age (SD) | 59.1 (17.9) | 58.8 (17.9) |
| Ethnicity | ||
| Caucasian | 555 (79.5%) | 548 (78.2%) |
| Non-Caucasian* | 143 (20.5%) | 153 (21.8%) |
| Current marital status | ||
| Married/common-law | 388 (55.6%) | 380 (54.2%) |
| Other† | 310 (44.4%) | 321 (45.8%) |
| Education | ||
| High school or lower | 190 (27.2%) | 200 (28.5%) |
| High school | 160 (22.9%) | 165 (23.5%) |
| College/University | 337 (48.3%) | 329 (46.9%) |
| Undetermined | 11 (1.6%) | 7 (1.0%) |
| Current work status | ||
| Full/Part-time | 198 (28.4%) | 211 (30.1%) |
| Other‡ | 500 (71.6%) | 490 (69.9%) |
| Patient has a family physician | 619 (88.7%) | 619 (88.7%) |
| Patient lives alone | 156 (22.4%) | 181 (25.8%) |
| History of alcohol abuse | 172 (24.6%) | 177 (25.3%) |
| History of illicit substance abuse | 65 (9.3%) | 67 (9.6%) |
| Number of comorbidities, median (IQR) | 2.0 (0.5–3.5) | 2.0 (0.5–3.5) |
| Diabetes with organ damage | 166 (23.8%) | 158 (22.5%) |
| Chronic pulmonary disease | 145 (20.8%) | 166 (23.7%) |
| Liver disease | 126 (18.1%) | 118 (16.8%) |
| Renal disease | 117 (16.8%) | 124 (17.7%) |
| Congestive heart failure | 101 (14.5%) | 95 (13.6%) |
| Mean Charlson Index score (SD) | 6.98 (4.11) | 7.11 (4.10) |
| Main diagnosis | ||
| Multiple diagnoses | 472 (67.6%) | 423 (60.3%) |
| Respiratory | 28 (4.0%) | 60 (8.6%) |
| Infections | 28 (4.0%) | 41 (5.9%) |
| Renal/Kidney | 29 (4.2%) | 30 (4.3%) |
| Metabolic/Electrolyte disorders | 30 (4.3%) | 24 (3.4%) |
| Cardiac | 29 (4.2%) | 27 (3.9%) |
| Loss of consciousness | 18 (2.6%) | 29 (4.1%) |
| Rheumatology | 14 (2.0%) | 14 (2.0%) |
| GI/Hepatic | 9 (1.3%) | 15 (2.1%) |
| Poison/Toxic | 12 (1.7%) | 12 (1.7%) |
| Deep vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolism | 7 (1.0%) | 5 (0.7%) |
| Diagnoses unavailable | 22 (3.2%) | 20 (2.9%) |
| Health status: Health Utilities Index, overall score HUI3, mean (SD) | 0.31 (0.32) n=566 | 0.29 (0.33) n=564 |
*Includes Asian, East Indian, First Nations, Black, Hispanic, South Asian, West Indian and other ethnicity.
†Includes separated/divorced, widow and unmarried.
‡Includes retired, with disability, unemployed and student.
e-DCT, electronic discharge communication tool.