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Table 1 Patient characteristics and hospital variation factor scores

From: Variation in practice and outcomes after inguinal hernia repair: a nationwide observational study

 

All hospitals

General hospitals

2013

  

 Hospitals, n

85

74

 Patients, n

33,181

31,419

 Sex male, n (%)

29,915 (90.2)

28,370 (90.3)

 Age, mean (SD)

59.6 (15.9)

59.6 (15.8)

 Surgical treatment, n (%)

24,010 (72.4)

22,811 (72.6)

 Factor scorea

1.88 (2.47)b

1.59 (2.01)b

2014

  

 Hospitals, nc

79

69

 Patients, n

33,146

31,523

 Sex male, n (%)

29,779 (89.8)

28,361 (90.0)

 Age, mean (SD)

59.9 (15.9)

60.0 (15.8)

 Surgical treatment, n (%)

23,724 (71.6)

22,634 (71.8)

 Factor scorea

1.66 (2.72)b

1.39 (1.58)b

2015

  

 Hospitals, n

68

59

 Patients, n

29,310

27,740

 Sex male, n (%)

26,545 (90.6)

25,130 (90.6)

 Age, mean (SD)

60.4 (15.9)

60.5 (15.8)

 Surgical treatment, n (%)

20,801 (71.0)

19,814 (71.4)

 Factor scorea

1.55 (3.08)b

1.38 (1.45)b

  1. aThe factor score is a measure to describe the degree of hospital variation. It shows by which factor the highest scores differ from the lowest scores. Factor scores were based on the 95th percentile and 5th percentile of the distribution of case-mix adjusted inguinal hernia repair rates. The case-mix adjusted inguinal hernia repair-rate of the 95th percentile was divided by the case-mix adjusted inguinal hernia repair-rate of the 5th percentile. Additionally, the factor score was calculated by dividing the mean of the case-mix adjusted inguinal hernia repair rates of the three hospitals with the highest adjusted rates by the mean of the three hospitals with the lowest adjusted rates
  2. b95th percentile/5th (top 3/bottom 3)
  3. cThe number of hospitals went down each year due to fusion of hospitals. At time of the study, the coverage was 90% for 2013, 90% for 2014, and 80% for 2015 (due to administrative delays in registries). Therefore, the number of patients is lower in 2015