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Table 4 Patient distribution of age in quartiles based on median age

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

 

Quartiles

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

P

16–42

43–65

66–82

83–1061

n = 1705

n = 1552

n = 1812

n = 1583

Sex – n (%)

 Female

908 (53.3)

721 (46.5)

892 (49.2)

1004 (63.4)

<0.001

Dispatcher priority – n (%) (14,6,10,3)a

    

<0.001

 Priority 1

965 (57.1)

832 (53.8)

862 (47.8)

590 (37.3)

 

 Priority 2

674 (39.9)

660 (42.7)

851 (47.2)

886 (56.1)

 

 Priority 3

52 (3.1)

54 (3.5)

89 (4.9)

104 (6.6)

 

Dispatch medical indexb – n (%) (13,7,10,1)a

 Chest pain/cardiac disease

158 (9.3)

269 (17.4)

322 (17.9)

242 (15.3)

<0.001

 Extremity wound/minor trauma

120 (7.1)

130 (8.4)

239 (13.3)

315 (19.9)

<0.001

 Uncertain information/suspicion of severe illness

158 (9.3)

166 (10.7)

215 (11.9)

187 (11.8)

0.056

 Respiratory difficulties

100 (5.9)

118 (7.6)

255 (14.2)

235 (14.9)

<0.001

 Abdominal/urinary tract symptoms

205 (12.1)

179 (11.6)

184 (10.2)

136 (8.6)

0.006

Medical historyc – n (%)

 Diseases of the circulatory system I00-I99

81 (2.5)

795 (18.7)

2415 (34.1)

2846 (41.5)

<0.001

 Mental and behavioural disorders F00-F99

1486 (45.8)

1135 (26.7)

691 (9.8)

499 (7.3)

<0.001

 Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases E00-E89

163 (5.0)

397 (9.3)

795 (11.2)

551 (8.0)

< 0.001

 Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue M00-M99

84 (2.6)

251 (5.9)

535 (7.6)

579 (8.4)

< 0.001

 Diseases of the digestive system K00-K95

186 (5.7)

304 (7.1)

413 (5.8)

322 (4.7)

< 0.001

 No medical history

600 (35.2)

221 (14.2)

59 (3.3)

24 (1.5)

< 0.001

Time of day – n (%)

    

<0.001

 08:00–16:00

548 (32.1)

621 (40.0)

877 (48.4)

860 (54.3)

 

 16:00–24:00

724 (42.5)

598 (24.5)

643 (35.5)

473 (29.9)

 

 24:00–08:00

433 (25.4)

333 (21.5)

292 (16.1)

250 (15.8)

 

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

 Median

19 (12,28)

20 (14,28)

24 (17,33)

27 (19,35)

<0.001

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

 Respiratory rate/min (198,154,133,99)a

18 (16,20) (4.8)

18 (16,20) (6.4)

18 (16,20) (12.5)

18 (16,22) (14.4)

< 0.001

 Saturation % (167,130,108,87)

99 (97,100) (1.2)

98 (96,99) (2.8)

97 (95,98) (6.8)

96 (94,98) (7.2)

< 0.001

 Pulse rate/min (160,126,107,80)

90 (78,104) (8.5)

86 (75,100) (7.3)

85 (74,100) (7.3)

83 (71,97) (5.5)

< 0.001

 Systolic blood pressure – mm/hg (219,164,132,94)

120 (112,135) (1.1)

140 (120,150) (1.8)

140 (120,160) (2.1)

140 (120,160) (1.9)

<0.001

 Diastolic blood pressure – mm/hg (430,316,291,243)

80(70,85) (0.0)

80(75,90) (0.1)

80 (70,90) (0.3)

80 (70,90) (0.0)

0.187

 Temperature °C (411,303,230,150)

36.9 (36.5,37.3) (0.5)

36.8 (36.4,37.1) (0.6)

36.9 (36.5,37.3) (0.6)

36.9 (36.5,37.3) (0.4)

0.164

 Level of consciousness – n (%) (11,18,16,12)

    

<0.001

  RLS 1/ GCS 15e

1521 (89.8)

1410 (91.9)

1699 (94.6)

1495 (95.2)

 

  RLS 2,3/ GCS 13–10

137 (8.1)

94 (6.1)

69 (3.8)

53 (3.3)

 

  RLS ≥4/ GCS ≤ 8

36 (2.1)

30 (2.0)

28 (1.6)

23 (1.5)

 

Prehospital triage level according to RETTS-A – n (%) (192,144,107,108)a

    

0.525

 Red

122 (8.1)

140 (9.9)

192 (11.3)

150 (10.2)

 

 Orange

507 (33.5)

470 (33.4)

507 (29.7)

424 (28.7)

 

 Yellow

621 (41.0)

561 (39.8)

738 (43.3)

675 (45.8)

 

 Green

263 (17.4)

237 (16.8)

268 (15.7)

226 (15.3)

 

Prehospital field assessment according to RETTS-Af – n (%) (192,143,104,99)a

 Chest/thoracic pain

108 (7.1)

177 (12.4)

202 (11.7)

136 (9.1)

<0.001

 Abdominal/flank pain

194 (12.7)

174 (12.3)

134 (7.8)

92 (6.2)

<0.001

 Respiratory distress/dyspnoa/breathing difficulties

42 (2.8)

79 (5.6)

228 (13.3)

196 (13.2)

<0.001

 Unspecific condition

49 (3.2)

84 (6.0)

164 (9.6)

194 (13.1)

<0.001

 Injury/head trauma

99 (6.5)

79 (5.6)

86 (5.0)

88 (5.9)

0.320

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

341 (20.0)

220 (14.2)

93 (5.1)

15 (0.9)

<0.001

Prehospital medication – n (%)

 Any medication

424 (24.9)

439 (28.3)

573 (31.6)

475 (30.0)

<0.001

 Intravenous medication

237 (13.9)

245 (15.8)

289 (15.9)

262 (16.6)

0.170

Level of care – n (%)

 Hospital

1274 (74.7)

1233 (79.4)

1486 (82.0)

1347 (85.1)

<0.001

  Emergency department

1174 (92.2)

1162 (94.2)

1380 (92.9)

1204 (89.4)

<0.001

  Bypass emergency departmentg

100 (7.8)

71 (5.8)

106 (7.1)

143 (10.6)

 

 Referral to primary care

46 (2.7)

28 (1.8)

46 (2.5)

23 (1.5)

0.041

 Stay on scene with initiated/increased social/home care

12 (0.7)

15 (1.0)

32 (1.8)

40 (2.6)

<0.001

 Stay on scene with advice on self-care/medication

373 (21.9)

276 (17.8)

248 (13.7)

17 2(10.9)

<0.001

 ED admission within 72 h

38 (2.9)

26 (2.1)

32 (2.1)

30 (2.2)

0.437

Mode of transport – n (%)

    

0.852

 Ambulance

1190 (93.4)

1148 (93.1)

1391 (93.6)

1250 (92.8)

 

 Patient transport

10 (0.8)

21 (1.7)

49 (3.3)

61 (4.5)

 

 Seated transport

47 (3.7)

42 (3.4)

38 (2.6)

32 (2.4)

 

 Police

13 (1.0)

7 (0.6)

0 (0.0)

0 (0.0)

 

 Own transportation

14 (1.1)

15 (1.2)

8 (0.5)

4 (0.3)

 

Management ED – n (%) (3, 1,7,3)a

 Admitted to in-patient care

346 (27.2)

508 (41.2)

878 (59.4)

899 (66.9)

< 0.001

 Extended examination/interventionh

262 (20.6)

198 (16.1)

171 (11.6)

143 (10.6)

< 0.001

 Lab, drug administration, prescription

430 (33.8)

370 (30.0)

347 (23.5)

265 (19.7)

< 0.001

 Clinical exam/observation only

124 (9.8)

76 (6.2)

48 (3.2)

27 (2.0)

< 0.001

 Patient managed by ED nurse, referral to primary care

23 (1.8)

16 (1.3)

12 (0.8)

3 (0.2)

< 0.001

 Patient leaves without being seen or against medical advice

86 (6.8)

64 (5.2)

23 (1.6)

7 (0.5)

< 0.001

Days of in-patient care – n

 Mean (SD)

5.7 (12.0)

6.5 (10.1)

8.8 (9.6)

9.2 (7.3)

< 0.001

 Median (25th,75th percentile)

2 (1,5)

4 (2,7)

6 (3,11)

7 (4,13)

< 0.001

Final hospital assessment, ICD-10i – n (%) (140,104,62,38)a

 Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings R00-R99

237 (20.9)

241 (21.3)

269 (18.9)

224 (17.1)

0.030

 Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes S00-S99, T00-T98

261 (23.0)

204 (18.1)

215 (15.1)

248 (18.9)

<0.001

 Mental and behavioural disorders F00-F99

215 (19.0)

130 (11.5)

50 (3.5)

28 (2.1)

<0.001

 Diseases of the circulatory system I00-I99

22 (1.9)

123 (10.9)

250 (17.6)

240 (18.3)

<0.001

 Disesases of the respiratory system J00-J99

39 (3.4)

62 (5.5)

174 (12.2)

143 (10.9)

<0.001

 Time-critical diagnosis (140,104,62,38)a

109 (9.6)

95 (8.4)

185 (13.0)

162 (12.4)

<0.001

 Deranged clinical signs/occurrence of complications within 48 hj

85 (6.7)

106 (8.6)

188 (12.7)

158 (11.7)

<0.001

All-cause mortality – n (%)

 ≤ 7 days

6 (0.4)

13 (0.8)

44 (2.4)

64 (4.0)

<0.001

 ≤ 30 days

6 (0.4)

27 (1.7)

86 (4.7)

155 (9.8)

<0.001

 ≤ 365 days

21 (1.2)

85 (5.5)

319 (17.6)

501 (31.6)

<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
  7. gBypass including pathway stroke, hip fracture, cardiac ICU, cath-lab, admission by EMS directly to geriatric ward, infection ward and psychiatric ED
  8. hX-ray, computed tomography, ultrasound, magnetic resonance, lumbar puncture, suturing, proctoscopy
  9. iThe five most common final hospital ICD-10 chapters
  10. jOccurrence of life-threatening events in ambulance, ED or ward within 48 h