The CAT algorithm derived from the nurse focus group was a borderline significant predictor of hospitalization risk (odds ratio (OR): 1.07; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.00–1.14; p = 0.050) in a model that also included hospitalization frequency in the previous year (OR: 3.98; 95% CI: 1.30–12.16; p = 0.016) and anticholinergic risk score (OR: 3.08; 95% CI: 0.87–10.89; p = 0.081).
In the first multivariate regression model for respiratory-related hospitalization risk ( Table 5 ), the adjusted CAT score based on weightings developed from focus group 1 (respiratory nurses) showed borderline significance controlling for other variables with univariate significance p = 0.2 or below.
In conclusion, as a predictor of respiratory-related hospitalizations, an adjusted CAT score was marginally significant (although the original CAT score was not). ‘Previous respiratory-related hospitalizations’ was the strongest factor in this equation.