Table 1.

Characteristics of patients having an emergency admission to hospital, N = 32 657a

Characteristicn (%)b
Sex
  Male15 027 (46.0)
  Female17 630 (54.0)
Age at admission, years
  Mean (SD)58.7 (21.3)
  Median (IQR)60 (41 to 77)
Multimorbidity scores
  08648 (26.5)
  17463 (22.9)
  26424 (19.7)
  34542 (13.9)
  42797 (8.6)
  ≥52783 (8.5)
Number of prescriptions before hospitalisation
  08466 (25.9)
  1–36345 (19.4)
  4–64691 (14.4)
  7–98407 (25.7)
  10–143647 (11.2)
  ≥151101 (3.4)
Index hospitalisation factors
  Duration of hospitalisation, days
    Mean (SD)6.4 (17.0)
    Median (IQR)2 (0 to 6)
  Number of admissions during hospitalisation
    Mean (SD)1.4 (2.4)
    Median (IQR)1 (1 to 1)
  Number of admissions within 6 months of discharge
    025 189 (77.1)
    15125 (15.7)
    ≥22343 (7.2)
  • a Index hospital admission defined as first hospitalisation of 2014 (with no hospitalisation in the previous 6 months) and includes any hospital admissions within 6 weeks of discharge. Multimorbidity list includes 37 chronic conditions.23

  • b Unless otherwise stated. IQR = interquartile range. SD = standard deviation.