Before BTC After BTC Wilcoxon sign test   Duration of hospitalization Number of hospitalizations Duration of hospitalization Number of hospitalizations Z p BTC repeat (n=160) 6.50 (0-536)   0.05 (0-361)   -1.08     1.00 (0-36)   0.00 (0-31) -3.69 *** BTC once (n=163) 0.00 (0-883)   0.00 (0-246)   -2.08 **   0.00 (0-13)   0.00 (0-25) -3.78 ***

* p<.10; ** p<.05; *** p<.001 Note: The duration of hospitalization is the number of days spent at hospital; Values are given as median (range); Wilcoxon analysis tests the difference between “after BTC” values and “before BTC” values: so if Z is negative and significant, “before BTC” values are higher than “after BTC”

Table 3: Comparison of duration and number of hospitalization 3 years before and after BTC