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Table 1 Total distribution of EMS assignments and characteristics with comparison of female and male

From: Patient characteristics, triage utilisation, level of care, and outcomes in an unselected adult patient population seen by the emergency medical services: a prospective observational study

 

Total

Female

Male

P1

n = 6652

n = 3525

n = 3127

Age – years (25th,75th percentiles)

 Median

66 (42,82)

69 (42,84)

64 (42,79)

< 0.001

Medical historya – n (%)

 Diseases of the circulatory system I00-I99

6137 (28.6)

3121 (26.9)

3016 (30.7)

< 0.001

 Mental and behavioural disorders F00-F99

3811 (17.8)

2056 (17.7)

1755 (17.8)

0.830

 Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases E00-E89

1906 (8.9)

1102 (9.5)

804 (8.2)

0.001

 Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue M00-M99

1449 (6.8)

1034 (8.9)

415 (4.2)

< 0.001

 Diseases of the digestive system K00-K95

1225 (5.7)

713 (6.1)

512 (5.2)

0.003

 No medical history

904 (13.6)

442 (12.5)

462 (14.8)

0.008

Dispatcher priority – n (%) (15,18)b

   

< 0.001

 Priority 1

3249 (49.1)

1647 (46.9)

1602 (51.5)

 

 Priority 2

3071 (46.4)

1700 (48.4)

1371 (44.1)

 

 Priority 3

299 (4.5)

163 (4.6)

136 (4.4)

 

Dispatch medical indexc – n (%) (12,19)b

 Chest pain/cardiac disease

991 (15.0)

514 (14.6)

477 (15.3)

0.427

 Extremity/wound minor trauma

804 (12.1)

448 (12.8)

356 (11.5)

0.113

 Uncertain information/suspicion of severe illness

726 (11.0)

341 (9.7)

385 (12.4)

0.001

 Respiratory difficulties

708 (10.7)

412 (11.7)

296 (9.5)

0.004

 Abdominal/urinary tract symptoms

704 (10.6)

306 (11.3)

308 (9.9)

0.079

EMS contact on multiple occasionsd – n (%)

   

0.580

 One occasion

5450 (91.0)

2873 (90.8)

2577 (91.3)

 

 Two occasions

422 (7.0)

230 (7.3)

192 (6.7)

 

 Three occasions

75 (1.3)

39 (1.2)

36 (1.3)

 

 Four or more occasions

40 (0.7)

21 (0.7)

19 (0.7)

 

Initial assessment of level of care – n (%)

 Hospital

5340 (80.3)

2763 (78.4)

2577 (82.4)

< 0.001

  Emergency department

4920 (92.1)

2526 (91.4)

2394 (92.9)

0.045

  Bypass emergency departmente

420 (7.9)

237 (8.6)

183 (7.1)

 

 Referral to primary care

143 (2.1)

82 (2.3)

61 (2.0)

0.310

 Stay on scene with increased social/home care

100 (1.5)

56 (1.6)

44 (1.4)

0.614

 Stay on scene with advice on self-care/medication

1069 (16.1)

624 (17.7)

445 (14.2)

< 0.001

Mode of transport for patients initially assessed to hospital – n (%)

   

0.020

 Ambulance

4979 (93.2)

2555 (92.5)

2424 (94.1)

 

 Patient transport

141 (2.6)

77 (2.8)

64 (2.5)

 

 Seated transport

159 (3.0)

94 (3.4)

65 (2.5)

 

 Police

20 (0.4)

17 (0.6)

3 (0.1)

 

 Own transportation

41 (0.8)

20 (0.7)

21 (0.8)

 
  1. 1P values calculated for female, male groups
  2. aThe five most common medical history ICD-10 chapters, a patient can have more than one diagnosis
  3. bMissing in each group respectively
  4. cThe five most common dispatch medical indices
  5. dCalculated on indviduals respectively and number of EMS contacts in study period including renewed contact (total n = 6712)
  6. eBypass including pathway stroke, hip fracture, cardiac ICU, cath-lab, admission by EMS directly to geriatric ward, infection ward and psychiatric ED