Demographics
| ED n=19,915 | Clinic n=4214 | IHT n=5971 | P value | |
| Age (mean±SD) | 58.1±17.4 | 57.5±16.1 | 58.6±17.2 | 0.0008 |
| Age group (%) | <0.0001 | |||
| <50 | 29.3 | 28.3 | 28.7 | |
| 50 to <65 | 29.8 | 33.4 | 29.2 | |
| 65 to <80 | 31.9 | 32.5 | 32.6 | |
| 80+ | 9.0 | 5.8 | 9.4 | |
| Gender (%) | <0.0001 | |||
| Male | 48.0 | 49.2 | 54.0 | |
| Female | 52.0 | 50.9 | 46.0 | |
| Race (%) | <0.0001 | |||
| Black | 37.0 | 29.7 | 33.6 | |
| Other | 3.2 | 3.2 | 4.7 | |
| White | 59.9 | 67.1 | 61.7 | |
| Marital status (%) | <0.0001 | |||
| Married | 46.6 | 55.1 | 47.9 | |
| Single | 19.7 | 17.0 | 20.6 | |
| Other | 33.7 | 27.9 | 31.5 | |
| Distance to MUSC (>50 miles) (%) | 34.6 | 58.2 | 76.0 | <0.0001 |
| Poverty (%) | 30.3 | 27.1 | 30.2 | 0.0002 |
| CCI score (mean±SD) | 4.1±3.2 | 4.1±3.1 | 4.3±3.1 | <0.0001 |
| CCI score (%) | <0.0001 | |||
| 0 | 12.8 | 10.1 | 10.0 | |
| 1–2 | 25.0 | 25.6 | 22.4 | |
| 3–4 | 24.4 | 27.7 | 26.0 | |
| 5+ | 37.8 | 36.6 | 41.7 | |
| Medication exposure (%) | ||||
| Antipsychotic | 30.4 | 33.6 | 29.1 | <0.0001 |
| Anticholinergic | 63.3 | 68.9 | 59.6 | <0.0001 |
| Opioid | 81.9 | 86.1 | 82.3 | <0.0001 |
| Benzodiazepine (anytime) | 38.3 | 43.2 | 49.5 | <0.0001 |
| ICU during hospitalization (%) | 18.1 | 11.9 | 40.2 | <0.0001 |
| Group of specialty (%) | <0.0001 | |||
| ICU | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.5 | |
| General Internal Medicine | 50.5 | 40.4 | 45.1 | |
| Neurology | 13.8 | 11.5 | 24.6 | |
| OBGYN | 1.9 | 3.3 | 2.1 | |
| Surgery | 33.5 | 44.4 | 27.7 | |
| Alcohol abuse | 7.8 | 3.0 | 7.9 | <0.0001 |
| Dementia | 4.9 | 2.4 | 5.0 | <0.0001 |
| Myocardial infarction | 12.4 | 8.6 | 16.6 | <0.0001 |
| Congestive heart failure | 19.4 | 16.2 | 23.1 | <0.0001 |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 9.0 | 7.7 | 19.9 | <0.0001 |
| Chronic pulmonary disease | 21.1 | 19.4 | 20.0 | 0.0185 |
| Peptic ulcer disease | 1.7 | 1.0 | 2.5 | <0.0001 |
| Uncomplicated diabetes | 10.9 | 9.7 | 11.2 | 0.0347 |
| Complicated diabetes | 19.1 | 17.6 | 19.6 | 0.0341 |
| Hemiplegia | 3.3 | 1.5 | 9.0 | <0.0001 |
| Renal disease | 20.3 | 20.2 | 19.8 | 0.6385 |
| Cancer | 19.5 | 29.3 | 19.1 | <0.0001 |
| AIDS/HIV | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.2560 |
| Liver disease | 7.9 | 7.1 | 9.9 | <0.0001 |
CCI, Charlson Comorbidity Index; ED, emergency department; ICU, intensive care unit; IHT, interhospital transfer; MUSC, Medical University of South Carolina; OBGYN, obstetrics and gynecology.