Patient and hospital characteristics for Medicare beneficiaries with TIA
| Variable | Overall (N=40 825) | ABCD2 score 0–3 (N=5707) | ABCD2 score ≥4 (N=35 118) | P value |
| Demographics | ||||
| Age in years, median (IQR) | 80.00 (73–86) | 80.00 (73–86) | 80.00 (73–86) | 0.0247 |
| Sex, % | ||||
| Male | 39.50 | 41.25 | 39.22 | 0.0036 |
| Race, % | ||||
| Other | 2.32 | 2.14 | 2.33 | <0.0001 |
| White | 81.87 | 86.68 | 81.09 | |
| Asian | 1.18 | 1.12 | 1.19 | |
| Black | 10.34 | 6.80 | 10.92 | |
| Hispanic | 4.29 | 3.26 | 4.46 | |
| Medical history, % | ||||
| Atrial fibrillation | 19.21 | 20.61 | 18.99 | 0.0040 |
| Prosthetic heart valve | 1.85 | 2.56 | 1.73 | <0.0001 |
| Previous stroke/TIA | 32.07 | 27.21 | 32.86 | <0.0001 |
| CAD/prior MI | 31.98 | 28.40 | 32.56 | <0.0001 |
| Carotid stenosis | 4.59 | 5.03 | 4.51 | 0.0844 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 35.34 | 11.90 | 39.15 | <0.0001 |
| PVD | 5.16 | 4.99 | 5.19 | 0.5315 |
| Hypertension | 80.41 | 75.75 | 81.16 | <0.0001 |
| Smoker | 6.45 | 5.87 | 6.55 | 0.0535 |
| Dyslipidaemia | 51.93 | 52.50 | 51.84 | 0.3577 |
| Heart failure | 9.28 | 7.59 | 9.55 | <0.0001 |
| No of prior hospitalisations, median (IQR) | 0.00 (0.00–1.00) | 0.00 (0.00–1.00) | 0.00 (0.00–1.00) | 0.3529 |
| Discharge status, % | ||||
| Discharge home | 81.55 | 89.15 | 80.32 | <0.0001 |
| Ambulating independently (vs unable or with assistance) | 74.24 | 82.69 | 72.87 | <0.0001 |
| Discharge treatment, % | ||||
| Antihypertensive | 83.10 | 79.25 | 83.73 | <0.0001 |
| Cholesterol-lowering medications | 77.20 | 76.87 | 77.25 | 0.5080 |
| Antithrombotics | 95.51 | 95.92 | 95.44 | 0.2728 |
| Defect-free care* | 90.55 | 91.00 | 90.48 | 0.2193 |
| Hospital characteristics | ||||
| No of hospital beds, median (IQR) | 319 (223–443) | 325 (231–484) | 318 (222–439) | <0.0001 |
| No of ischaemic stroke discharges/year, median (IQR) | 198.25 (135.09–295.18) | 206.82 (143.82–317.19) | 196.00 (132.71–293.67) | <0.0001 |
| Region | ||||
| West | 11.85 | 9.64 | 12.21 | <0.0001 |
| South | 30.61 | 23.80 | 31.72 | |
| Midwest | 19.15 | 18.50 | 19.25 | |
| Northeast | 38.39 | 48.06 | 36.82 | |
| Teaching hospital, % | 51.58 | 53.69 | 51.24 | 0.0023 |
| Primary stroke centre certification, % | 44.79 | 42.63 | 45.14 | 0.0004 |
| Rural location, % | 6.10 | 4.71 | 6.33 | <0.0001 |
*Defect-free care is a global quality of care metric. Details provided in the online supplemental material.
CAD, coronary artery disease; HF, heart failure; MI, myocardial infarction; PVD, peripheral vascular disease; TIA, transient ischaemic attack.