Basic characteristics of the patients
| Total | Left upper lobectomy | Left lower lobectomy | Right upper lobectomy | Right middle lobectomy | Right lower lobectomy | |
| N=37 352 | N=7462 | N=5593 | N=13 075 | N=2912 | N=8310 | |
| 20.0% | 15.0% | 35.0% | 7.80% | 22.3% | ||
| Variables | ||||||
| Age, mean (SD) | 70.0 (9.1) | 69.6 (9.0) | 70.3 (9.1) | 69.9 (9.0) | 69.8 (10.0) | 70.4 (8.9) |
| Sex, men | 22 377 (59.9%) | 4495 (60.2%) | 3276 (58.6%) | 7946 (60.8%) | 1487 (51.1%) | 5173 (62.3%) |
| Body mass index | ||||||
| <18 kg/m2 | 1443 (3.9%) | 257 (3.4%) | 210 (3.8%) | 492 (3.8%) | 132 (4.5%) | 352 (4.2%) |
| 18–24.9 kg/m2 | 24 416 (65.4%) | 4874 (65.3%) | 3696 (66.1%) | 8502 (65.0%) | 1888 (64.8%) | 5456 (65.7%) |
| >25 kg/m2 | 11 493 (30.8%) | 2331 (31.2%) | 1687 (30.2%) | 4081 (31.2%) | 892 (30.6%) | 2502 (30.1%) |
| Smoking history (current or former) | 22 604 (60.5%) | 4512 (60.5%) | 3325 (59.4%) | 8011 (61.3%) | 1459 (50.1%) | 5297 (63.7%) |
| Activity of daily living | ||||||
| Self-reliant | 36 727 (98.3%) | 7345 (98.4%) | 5503 (98.4%) | 12 875 (98.5%) | 2847 (97.8%) | 8157 (98.2%) |
| Use of a cane | 377 (1.0%) | 63 (0.8%) | 60 (1.1%) | 125 (1.0%) | 42 (1.4%) | 87 (1.0%) |
| Wheelchair user | 144 (0.4%) | 33 (0.4%) | 17 (0.3%) | 38 (0.3%) | 13 (0.4%) | 43 (0.5%) |
| Total assistance | 104 (0.3%) | 21 (0.3%) | 13 (0.2%) | 37 (0.3%) | 10 (0.3%) | 23 (0.3%) |
| Cancer TNM stage | ||||||
| 0 | 1757 (4.7%) | 302 (4.0%) | 210 (3.8%) | 703 (5.4%) | 205 (7.0%) | 337 (4.1%) |
| Ⅰ | 26 765 (71.7%) | 5332 (71.5%) | 3908 (69.9%) | 9749 (74.6%) | 2254 (77.4%) | 5522 (66.5%) |
| Ⅱ | 5303 (14.2%) | 1067 (14.3%) | 955 (17.1%) | 1582 (12.1%) | 255 (8.8%) | 1444 (17.4%) |
| Ⅲ | 3188 (8.5%) | 691 (9.3%) | 454 (8.1%) | 943 (7.2%) | 169 (5.8%) | 931 (11.2%) |
| Ⅳ | 339 (0.9%) | 70 (0.9%) | 66 (1.2%) | 98 (0.7%) | 29 (1.0%) | 76 (0.9%) |
| Comorbidities | ||||||
| Any of the following applies | 16 183 (43.3%) | 3240 (43.4%) | 2377 (42.5%) | 5649 (43.2%) | 1215 (41.7%) | 3702 (44.5%) |
| Chronic kidney disease | 276 (0.7%) | 39 (0.5%) | 46 (0.8%) | 110 (0.8%) | 21 (0.7%) | 60 (0.7%) |
| Vascular disease | 1034 (2.8%) | 230 (3.1%) | 181 (3.2%) | 326 (2.5%) | 64 (2.2%) | 233 (2.8%) |
| Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy | 47 (0.1%) | 7 (0.1%) | 8 (0.1%) | 19 (0.1%) | 7 (0.2%) | 6 (0.1%) |
| Heart failure | 1409 (3.8%) | 289 (3.9%) | 208 (3.7%) | 482 (3.7%) | 102 (3.5%) | 328 (3.9%) |
| Hypertension | 9664 (25.9%) | 1963 (26.3%) | 1374 (24.6%) | 3440 (26.3%) | 761 (26.1%) | 2126 (25.6%) |
| Diabetes | 7380 (19.8%) | 1438 (19.3%) | 1097 (19.6%) | 2530 (19.3%) | 504 (17.3%) | 1811 (21.8%) |
| Cerebral infarction or haemorrhage | 394 (1.1%) | 72 (1.0%) | 56 (1.0%) | 140 (1.1%) | 34 (1.2%) | 92 (1.1%) |
| Atrial fibrillation | 1473 (3.9%) | 300 (4.0%) | 209 (3.7%) | 554 (4.2%) | 127 (4.4%) | 283 (3.4%) |
| Surgical approach | ||||||
| Thoracotomy | 5625 (15.1%) | 1292 (17.3%) | 828 (14.8%) | 1696 (13.0%) | 388 (13.3%) | 1421 (17.1%) |
| Video-assisted | 31 727 (84.9%) | 6170 (82.7%) | 4765 (85.2%) | 11 379 (87.0%) | 2524 (86.7%) | 6889 (82.9%) |
| Hospital-level factor: number of lobectomies in the observation period | ||||||
| 1–72 | 9436 (25.3%) | 1778 (23.8%) | 1453 (26.0%) | 3313 (25.3%) | 761 (26.1%) | 2131 (25.6%) |
| 73–117 | 9266 (24.8%) | 1915 (25.7%) | 1405 (25.1%) | 3235 (24.7%) | 711 (24.4%) | 2000 (24.1%) |
| 120–182 | 9714 (26.0%) | 1966 (26.3%) | 1440 (25.7%) | 3335 (25.5%) | 749 (25.7%) | 2224 (26.8%) |
| 184–482 | 8936 (23.9%) | 1803 (24.2%) | 1295 (23.2%) | 3192 (24.4%) | 691 (23.7%) | 1955 (23.5%) |
TNM, tumour node metastasis.