Baseline socio-demographic and clinical characteristics for people with motor neuron disease by episode settings
| Characteristics of patients | All N (%) | Community N (%) | Inpatient N (%) | P values for differences by setting |
| Socio-demographic characteristics | ||||
| Total number | 1308 | 738 (56.4) | 570 (43.6) | – |
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 712 (54.4) | 417 (56.5) | 295 (51.8) | 0.087 |
| Female | 596 (45.6) | 327 (43.5) | 275 (48.2) | |
| Age | ||||
| <65 years | 457 (34.9) | 264 (35.8) | 193 (33.9) | 0.660 |
| 65–75 years | 474 (36.2) | 260 (35.2) | 214 (37.5) | |
| >75 years | 377 (28.8) | 214 (29.0) | 163 (28.6) | |
| Preferred language | ||||
| English | 1212 (92.7) | 682 (92.4) | 530 (93.0) | 0.695 |
| Non-English | 96 (7.3) | 56 (7.6) | 40 (7.0) | |
| SEIFA | ||||
| 1–2 | 183 (14.0) | 104 (14.1) | 79 (13.9) | 0.994 |
| 3–4 | 143 (11.0) | 79 (10.7) | 64 (11.2) | |
| 5–6 | 225 (17.2) | 128 (17.4) | 97 (17.1) | |
| 7–8 | 324 (24.8) | 181 (24.5) | 143 (25.2) | |
| 9–10 | 431 (33.0) | 246 (33.3) | 185 (32.6) | |
| Characteristics of episodes of care | ||||
| Years of admission | ||||
| 2013 | 127 (9.7) | 64 (8.7) | 63 (11.1) | 0.202 |
| 2014 | 121 (9.3) | 62 (8.4) | 59 (10.3) | |
| 2015 | 150 (11.5) | 81 (11.0) | 69 (12.1) | |
| 2016 | 187 (14.3) | 102 (13.8) | 85 (14.9) | |
| 2017 | 186 (14.2) | 116 (15.7) | 70 (12.3) | |
| 2018 | 198 (15.1) | 113 (15.3) | 85 (14.9) | |
| 2019 | 202 (15.4) | 126 (17.1) | 76 (13.3) | |
| 2020 | 137 (10.5) | 74 (10.0) | 63 (11.1) | |
| Referral source | ||||
| Hospital | 468 (35.8) | 215 (29.1) | 253 (44.4) | <0.001* |
| Community service | 556 (42.5) | 311 (42.1) | 245 (43.0) | |
| Others | 86 (6.6) | 75 (10.2) | 11 (1.9) | |
| Missing | 198 (15.1) | 137 (18.6) | 61 (10.7) | |
| Accommodation at the start of episode | ||||
| Private residence | 1035 (79.1) | 616 (83.5) | 419 (73.5) | <0.001* |
| Residential aged care | 116 (8.9) | 85 (11.5) | 31 (5.4) | |
| Other | 36 (2.7) | 22 (3.0) | 14 (2.5) | |
| Missing | 121 (9.3) | 15 (2.0) | 106 (18.6) | |
| Phase type on admission | ||||
| Stable | 393 (30.0) | 303 (41.1) | 90 (15.8) | <0.001* |
| Unstable | 255 (19.5) | 26 (3.5) | 229 (40.2) | |
| Deteriorating | 588 (45.0) | 395 (53.5) | 193 (33.8) | |
| Terminal | 72 (5.5) | 14 (1.9) | 58 (10.2) | |
| Days until death | ||||
| ≤1 week | 293 (22.4) | 54 (7.3) | 239 (41.9) | <0.001* |
| 1 week~1 month | 259 (19.8) | 118 (16.0) | 141 (24.7) | |
| 1 month~3 months | 254 (19.4) | 161 (21.8) | 93 (16.3) | |
| 3 months~6 months | 192 (14.7) | 141 (19.1) | 51 (9.0) | |
| >6 months | 310 (23.7) | 264 (35.8) | 46 (8.1) | |
| The end mode of the first episode | ||||
| Death | 764 (58.4) | 370 (50.2) | 394 (69.1) | <0.001* |
| Others | 528 (40.4) | 353 (47.8) | 175 (30.7) | |
| Missing | 16 (1.2) | 15 (2.0) | 1 (0.2) | |
| Place of death | ||||
| Home | 283 (21.6) | 283 (38.3) | 0 (0.0) | <0.001* |
| Residential aged care facility | 76 (5.8) | 76 (10.3) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Hospital | 282 (21.6) | 0 (0.0) | 282 (49.5) | |
| Unknown | 667 (51.0) | 379 (51.4) | 288 (50.5) | |
Comparisons between the two groups were conducted using Pearson’s χ2 tests. Missing data entries were not accounted for in the analyses.
*Indicates significant value p<0.05.
N/A, Not applicable.SEIFA, Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas;