Table 1

Baseline socio-demographic and clinical characteristics for people with motor neuron disease by episode settings

Characteristics of patientsAll N (%)Community N (%)Inpatient N (%)P values for differences by setting
Socio-demographic characteristics
Total number1308738 (56.4)570 (43.6)
Sex
 Male712 (54.4)417 (56.5)295 (51.8)0.087
 Female596 (45.6)327 (43.5)275 (48.2)
Age
 <65 years457 (34.9)264 (35.8)193 (33.9)0.660
 65–75 years474 (36.2)260 (35.2)214 (37.5)
 >75 years377 (28.8)214 (29.0)163 (28.6)
Preferred language
 English1212 (92.7)682 (92.4)530 (93.0)0.695
 Non-English96 (7.3)56 (7.6)40 (7.0)
SEIFA
 1–2183 (14.0)104 (14.1)79 (13.9)0.994
 3–4143 (11.0)79 (10.7)64 (11.2)
 5–6225 (17.2)128 (17.4)97 (17.1)
 7–8324 (24.8)181 (24.5)143 (25.2)
 9–10431 (33.0)246 (33.3)185 (32.6)
Characteristics of episodes of care
Years of admission
 2013127 (9.7)64 (8.7)63 (11.1)0.202
 2014121 (9.3)62 (8.4)59 (10.3)
 2015150 (11.5)81 (11.0)69 (12.1)
 2016187 (14.3)102 (13.8)85 (14.9)
 2017186 (14.2)116 (15.7)70 (12.3)
 2018198 (15.1)113 (15.3)85 (14.9)
 2019202 (15.4)126 (17.1)76 (13.3)
 2020137 (10.5)74 (10.0)63 (11.1)
Referral source
 Hospital468 (35.8)215 (29.1)253 (44.4)<0.001*
 Community service556 (42.5)311 (42.1)245 (43.0)
 Others86 (6.6)75 (10.2)11 (1.9)
 Missing198 (15.1)137 (18.6)61 (10.7)
Accommodation at the start of episode
 Private residence1035 (79.1)616 (83.5)419 (73.5)<0.001*
 Residential aged care116 (8.9)85 (11.5)31 (5.4)
 Other36 (2.7)22 (3.0)14 (2.5)
 Missing121 (9.3)15 (2.0)106 (18.6)
Phase type on admission
 Stable393 (30.0)303 (41.1)90 (15.8)<0.001*
 Unstable255 (19.5)26 (3.5)229 (40.2)
 Deteriorating588 (45.0)395 (53.5)193 (33.8)
 Terminal72 (5.5)14 (1.9)58 (10.2)
Days until death
 ≤1 week293 (22.4)54 (7.3)239 (41.9)<0.001*
 1 week~1 month259 (19.8)118 (16.0)141 (24.7)
 1 month~3 months254 (19.4)161 (21.8)93 (16.3)
 3 months~6 months192 (14.7)141 (19.1)51 (9.0)
 >6 months310 (23.7)264 (35.8)46 (8.1)
The end mode of the first episode
 Death764 (58.4)370 (50.2)394 (69.1)<0.001*
 Others528 (40.4)353 (47.8)175 (30.7)
 Missing16 (1.2)15 (2.0)1 (0.2)
 Place of death
 Home283 (21.6)283 (38.3)0 (0.0)<0.001*
Residential aged care facility76 (5.8)76 (10.3)0 (0.0)
 Hospital282 (21.6)0 (0.0)282 (49.5)
 Unknown667 (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;