Outcome
The primary outcome that was evaluated was short-term mortality. In this
study, the term short-term mortality refers to in-hospital mortality.
Comorbidities’ mortality burden was quantified in this study using the
Charlson comorbidity index. The Charlson comorbidity index is a widely
used tool for predicting mortality by identifying or weighing
comorbidities. Health researchers widely use it to quantify disease
burden and case mix.8 The index’s performance was
evaluated using the tenth revision of the International Classification
of Diseases (ICD-10). The following ICD-10 codes were used to define the
various comorbidities in this study: diabetes (E10, E11), cardiovascular
disease (I25), hypertension (I10-I15), asthma (J45), chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (J44), acute kidney injury (AKI; N17), chronic kidney
disease (N18), and dementia diagnoses (F00-04, F05.1, G30, G31, A81.0).