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Table 1 Characteristics of included hyperglycemia visits organized by whether they had recurrent visits to the ED within 30 days for hyperglycemia (n = 156) or not (n = 677), with univariate association

From: Risk factors for recurrent emergency department visits for hyperglycemia in patients with diabetes mellitus

Characteristic

Overall ED visits

n = 833

Recurrent visit for hyperglycemia

n = 156

(18.7%)

No recurrent visit for hyperglycemia

n = 677

(81.3%)

p value*

Male (%)

455 (54.6)

88 (56.4)

367 (54.2)

0.62

Mean age, years (SD)

48.8 (19.5)

45.8 (22.4)

49.5 (18.7)

0.03

 Range

18–95

18–88

18–95

 

 <25 years (%)

126 (15.1)

48 (30.8)

78 (11.5)

<0.01

Vital signs

 Mean heart rate, bpm (SD)

96.4 (21.6)

93.0 (19.6)

97.2 (21.9)

0.07

 Heart rate > 110 bpm (%)

188 (22.6)

19 (12.2)

169 (25.0)

<0.01

 Systolic blood pressure <90 mm Hg (%)

14 (1.7)

3 (1.9)

11 (1.6)

N/A

 Systolic blood pressure 90–150 mm Hg (%)

635 (76.2)

133 (85.3)

502 (74.2)

<0.01

 Systolic blood pressure >150 mm Hg (%)

184 (22.1)

20 (12.8)

164 (24.2)

<0.01

Temperature >38.0 or <36.0 °C on arrival (%)

192 (23.0)

28 (17.9)

164 (24.2)

0.09

Mean blood glucose mmol/L (SD)

27.6 (12.6)

29.0 (11.9)

27.3 (12.8)

0.14

 Range

3.1–92

4.9–74.5

3.1–92

 

 >20 mmol/L (%)

557 (66.9)

119 (76.3)

438 (64.7)

<0.01

Arrival by EMS (%)

383 (46.0)

93 (59.6)

290 (42.8)

<0.01

CTAS 1 or 2 (%)

478 (57.4)

86 (55.1)

392 (57.9)

0.53

From nursing home or long-term care facility (%)

56 (6.7)

18 (11.5)

38 (5.6)

0.008

Previously known history of DM (%)

721 (86.6)

146 (93.6)

575 (84.9)

0.004

 DM1

325 (39.0)

82 (52.6)

243 (35.9)

<0.01

 DM2

396 (47.6)

64 (41.0)

332 (49.0)

0.07

New DM diagnosis in ED

112 (13.4)

10 (6.4)

102 (15.1)

0.004

Diabetic medications (%)

 Oral hypoglycemic

329 (39.5)

73 (46.8)

256 (37.8)

0.04

 Subcutaneous insulin

481 (57.7)

115 (73.7)

366 (54.1)

<0.01

 Insulin pump

47 (5.6)

10 (6.4)

37 (5.5)

0.65

Physicians (%)

 Family physician

711 (85.4)

147 (94.2)

564 (83.3)

<0.01

 Internist or endocrinologist

354 (42.5)

87 (55.8)

267 (39.4)

<0.01

Past medical history (%)

 Hypertension

383 (46.0)

68 (43.6)

315 (46.5)

0.51

 Hyperlipidemia

315 (37.8)

58 (37.2)

257 (38.0)

0.86

 Coronary artery disease

138 (16.6)

28 (17.9)

110 (16.2)

0.60

 Chronic renal failure

114 (13.7)

15 (9.6)

99 (14.6)

0.10

 Stroke/transient ischemic attack

60 (7.2)

13 (8.3)

47 (6.9)

0.54

 Psychiatric illness

291 (34.9)

81 (51.9)

210 (31.0)

<0.01

 Intravenous drug abuse

34 (4.1)

4 (2.6)

30 (4.4)

0.29

 Alcohol abuse

55 (6.6)

7 (4.5)

48 (7.1)

0.24

  1. SD standard deviation, bpm beats per minute, EMS emergency medical services, CTAS Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale, DM diabetes mellitus.
  2. *p value compares characteristic for those with vs. without a recurrent visit for hyperglycemia within 30 days