Skip to main content

Table 2 Baseline characteristics of patient presentations and dispositions in the study periods

From: The impact of a multimodal intervention on emergency department crowding and patient flow

 

Pre-intervention period n = 31,891

Intervention period n = 32,121

Odds ratio (95% CI)

p valuea

Median ageb in years (IQR*)

45 (26–65)

47 (27–66)

1.00 (1.00–1.00)

< 0.001

Age in yearsb n (%)

 17 years and younger

4273 (13.4)

4019 (12.5)

0.92 (0.88–0.97)

0.001

 18–64 years

19,493 (61.1)

19,449 (60.5)

0.98 (0.95–1.01)

0.130

 65–74 years

3694 (11.6)

3981 (12.4)

1.08 (1.03–1.13)

0.002

 75 years and older

4426 (13.9)

4672 (14.5)

1.06 (1.01–1.10)

0.016

Self-referred

11,278 (35.4)

10,841 (33.8)

0.93 (0.90–0.96)

< 0.001

Acuity levelc n (%)

 Life-threatening

427 (1.3)

413 (1.3)

0.96 (0.84–1.10)

0.554

 High urgent

7546 (23.7)

7351 (22.9)

0.96 (0.92–0.99)

0.020

 Urgent

14,339 (45.0)

15,172 (47.2)

1.10 (1.06–1.13)

< 0.001

 Standard

8663 (27.2)

7841 (24.4)

0.87 (0.84–0.90)

< 0.001

 Non-urgent

230 (0.7)

214 (3.5)

0.92 (0.77–1.11)

0.402

Medical specialism n (%)

 Cardiology

4396 (13.8)

4454 (13.9)

(0.96–1.05)

0.764

 Surgery/traumatology

9601 (30.1)

10,219 (31.8)

1.08 (1.05–1.12)

< 0.001

 Neurology

3750 (11.8)

3785 (11.8)

1.00 (0.96–1.05)

0.923

 Internal medicine

4493 (14.1)

4647 (14.5)

1.03 (0.99–1.08)

0.171

 Other specialismd

9651 (30.3)

9016 (28.1)

0.90 (0.87–0.93)

< 0.001

Presenting problemc n (%)

 Abdominal pain

4931 (15,8)

5071 (16.4)

1.04 (1.00–1.09)

0.053

 Back pain

371 (1.2)

361 (1.2)

0.98 (0.85–1.13)

0.787

 Chest pain and collapse

4353 (13.9)

4221 (13.6)

0.97 (0.93–1.02)

0.245

 Ear/nose/throat/eye

682 (2.2)

601 (1.9)

0.89 (0.79–0.99)

0.032

 Headache and head injury

2379 (7.6)

2248 (7.3)

0.95 (0.89–1.01)

0.082

 Limb problems

5302 (17.0)

4829 (15.6)

0.90 (0.87–0.94)

< 0.001

 Psychiatric disorders

1148 (3.7)

1153 (3.7)

1.01 (0.93–1.10)

0.773

 Severe trauma and falls

2263 (7.2)

2262 (7.3)

1.01 (0.95–1.07)

0.806

 Shortness of breath

2357 (7.6)

2537 (8.2)

1.09 (1.03–1.16)

0.003

 Unwell patient

3629 (11.6)

3991 (12.9)

1.12 (1.07–1.18)

< 0.001

 Wounds and local infections

2063 (6.6)

2008 (6.5)

0.98 (0.92–1.04)

0.519

 Other presenting probleme

1736 (5.6)

1700 (5.5)

0.99 (0.92–1.06)

0.684

Arrival during peak hours (noon–8 pm)

15,115 (47.4)

15,195 (47.3)

1.00 (0.97–1.03)

0.819

  1. *Abbreviation: CI confidence interval, ED emergency department, IQR interquartile range
  2. ap values were calculated using χ2 tests, except for median age, which was calculated using the Mann-Whitney U test
  3. bBased on 64,007 presentations, due to 5 missings
  4. cBased on 62,196 presentations, due to 1816 (2.8%) missings
  5. dOther specialism: all visits for other specialism besides cardiology, internal medicine, neurology, and surgery
  6. eOther presenting problem: presenting problem occurring less than 600 times during the study periods: allergy, asthma, diabetes, facial problems, irritable child, neck pain, sexually acquired infections
Back to article page

International Journal of Emergency Medicine

ISSN: 1865-1380

Contact us