Table 2

Variables, measures and analysis methods

Variable/outcome	Hypothesis	Measured outcomes	Methods of analysis
Primary
Readmission* at 12 months	Improvement occurred	Readmission rate % (binary)	χ² test
Secondary
No of medications at discharge and at 6, 12 and 24 months	Decline occurred	Total no of medications (continuous)	Student’s t-test
PIP† at discharge and at 6, 12 and 24 months	Decline occurred	Total no of PIP (continuous)	Student’s t-test
	Improvement occurred	Proportion of patients who take any PIP % (binary)	χ² test
PPO† at discharge and at 6, 12 and 24 months	Decline occurred	Total no of PPO (continuous)	Student’s t-test
	Improvement occurred	Proportion of patients who take any PPO % (binary)	χ² test
Readmission* at 6 and 24 months	Improvement occurred	Readmission rate % (binary)	χ² test
ED visit at 6, 12 and 24 months	Improvement occurred	Proportion of patients who visit ED % (binary)	χ² test
All-cause death at 6, 12 and 24 months	Improvement occurred	All-cause mortality % (binary)	χ² test
Acute myocardial infarction at 6, 12 and 24 months	Improvement occurred	Proportion of patients whom acute myocardial infarction occurred % (binary)	χ² test
Acute ischaemic stroke at 6, 12 and 24 months	Improvement occurred	Proportion of patients whom acute ischaemic stroke occurred % (binary)	χ² test
Any fractures at 6, 12 and 24 months	Improvement occurred	Proportion of patients whom any fractures occurred % (binary)	χ² test

*Includes all-cause hospitalisation regardless of the cause of hospitalisation.
†PIP and PPO are defined based on the 2015 STOPP/START criteria.
ED, emergency department; PIP, potentially inappropriate prescribing; PPO, potential prescribing omission.