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Table 2 Patients initially assessed to hospital and non-transport patients

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

 

Initial assessment to hospital

Non-transport

P

n=5340

n = 1312

Age – years (25th, 75th percentile)

 Median

68 (44,83)

59 (34,78)

< 0.001

Sex – n (%)

  

< 0.001

 Female

2763 (51.7)

762 (58.1)

 

Dispatcher priority – n (%) (26,7)a

  

< 0.001

 Priority 1

2659 (50.0)

590 (45.2)

 

 Priority 2

2444 (46.0)

627 (48.0)

 

 Priority 3

211 (4.0)

88 (6.7)

 

Dispatch medical indexb – n (%) (31,0)a

 Chest pain/cardiac disease

747 (14.1)

244 (18.7)

< 0.001

 Extremity/ wound/minor trauma

699 (13.2)

105 (8.1)

< 0.001

 Uncertain information/suspicion of severe illness

574 (10.8)

152 (11.6)

0.401

 Respiratory difficulties

554 (10.4)

154 (11.7)

0.162

 Abdominal/urinary tract symptoms

618 (11.6)

86 (6.6)

< 0.001

Time of day – n (%)

  

< 0.001

 08:00–16:00

2431 (45.5)

475 (36.2)

 

 16:00–24:00

1902 (35.6)

536 (40.9)

 

 24:00–08:00

1007 (18.9)

301 (22.9)

 

Time on scene – mins (25th, 75th percentile)

 Median

22 (14,30)

27 (19,37)

< 0.001

Medical historyc – n (%)

 Diseases of the circulatory system I00-I99

5250 (29.4)

887 (24.8)

< 0.001

 Mental and behavioural disorders F00-F99

3024 (16.9)

787 (20.7)

< 0.001

 Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases E00-E89

1583 (8.9)

323 (9.0)

0.750

 Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue M00-M99

1212 (6.8)

237 (6.8)

0.768

 Diseases of the digestive system K00-K95

1055 (5.9)

170 (4.8)

0.007

 No medical history

658 (12.3)

246 (18.8)

< 0.001

Initial vital signs – median (25th, 75th percentile) (% deviating)d

 Respiratory rate/min (343,241)a

18 (16,20) (11.4)

16 (16,18) (1.6)

< 0.001

 Saturation % (282,210)

97 (95,99) (5.4)

98 (96,99) (0.9)

< 0.001

 Pulse rate/min (264,209)

86 (75,101) (8.3)

83 (74,93) (1.6)

< 0.001

 Systolic blood pressure – mm/hg (369,240)

135 (120,150) (2.1)

130 (120,150) (0.3)

0.008

 Diastolic blood pressure – mm/hg (947,333)

80 (70,90) (0.1)

80 (70,85) (0.1)

< 0.001

 Temperature°C (762,332)

36.9 (36.5,37.3) (0.6)

36.8 (36.5,37.1) (0.1)

0.019

 Level of consciousness – n (%) (20,37)

  

<0.001

  RLS 1/ GCS 15e

4901 (92.1)

1224 (96.0)

 

  RLS 2,3/ GCS 13–10

310 (5.9)

43 (3.4)

 

  RLS ≥ 4/ GCS ≤ 8

109 (2.0)

8 (0.6)

 

Prehospital triage level according to RETTS-A – n (%) (172,379)a

  

<0.001

 Red

597 (11.6)

7 (0.8)

 

 Orange

1854 (35.9)

54 (5.8)

 

 Yellow

2254 (43.6)

341 (36.5)

 

 Green

463 (9.0)

531 (56.9)

 

Prehospital field assessment according to RETTS-Af – n (%) (161,377)a

   

 Chest thoracic pain

512 (9.9)

111 (11.9)

0.069

 Abdominal/flank pain

535 (10.3)

59 (6.3)

<0.001

 Respiratory distress/dyspnoa/breathing difficulties

454 (8.8)

91 (9.7)

0.350

 Unspecific condition

349 (6.7)

142 (15.2)

<0.001

 Injury/head trauma

324 (6.3)

28 (3.0)

<0.001

 Under the influence of substances (alcohol, drugs) – n (%)

534 (10.0)

135 (10.3)

0.759

Prehospital medication – n (%)

 Any medication

1825 (34.2)

86 (6.6)

<0.001

 Intravenous medication

1015 (19.0)

18 (1.4)

<0.001

All-cause mortality – n (%)

 ≤ 7 days

111 (2.1)

16 (1.2)

0.042

 ≤ 30 days

243 (4.6)

31 (2.4)

<0.001

 ≤ 365 days

804 (15.1)

122 (9.3)

<0.001

  1. aMissing in each group respectively
  2. bThe five most common dispatch medical indices
  3. cThe five most common medical history ICD-10 chapters, a patient can have more than one diagnosis
  4. dDeviating vital signs: respiratory rate/min > 25 or < 8, oxygen saturation < 90%, pulse rate/min > 120 or < 40, systolic blood pressure < 90 mm/hg, diastolic blood pressure > 140 mm/hg, body temperature Celsius > 41 or < 35
  5. eRLS Reaction level scale 1–8, GCS Glasgow coma scale 15–3
  6. fThe five most common EMS field assessments