Table 1 Baseline clinical characteristics of the included patients

Age, mean (SD), year

52.6 (21.7)

52.6 (21.7)

54.1 (22.0)

 < .001

54.9 (20.0)

39.6 (26.2)

 < .001

Male, n (%)

123,343 (47.7)

119,004 (47.6)

4,339 (50.2)

 < .001

103,568 (46.9)

19,775 (51.9)

 < .001

Vital sign

 Body temperature, mean (SD), °C

36.9 (1.1)

37.0 (1.1)

36.9 (1.5)

 < .001

37.0 (1.1)

36.8 (1.2)

 < .001

 Heart rate, mean (SD), beats per min

90.5 (19.5)

90.6 (19.4)

89.5 (20.8)

 < .001

90.7 (19.1)

89.7 (21.6)

 < .001

 Respiratory rate, mean (SD), breaths per min

19.3 (2.2)

19.3 (2.2)

19.0 (2.7)

 < .001

19.2 (2.0)

19.6 (3.1)

 < .001

 Oxygen saturation, median (IQR), %

98.0 (3.0)

98.0 (3.0)

98.0 (3.0)

 < .001

97.0 (3.0)

98.0 (3.0)

 < .001

 Systolic blood pressure, mean (SD), mmHg

135.4 (27.4)

135.2 (27.2)

140.3 (30.5)

 < .001

135.8 (27.0)

133.3 (29.2)

 < .001

 Diastolic blood pressure, mean (SD), mmHg

77.3 (15.0)

77.3 (14.9)

78.5 (17.4)

 < .001

77.3 (14.7)

77.3 (16.7)

0.282

 GCS-E, n (%)

 < .001

 < .001

  1

284 (0.1)

216 (0.1)

68 (0.8)

262 (0.1)

22 (0.1)

  2

796 (0.3)

736 (0.3)

60 (0.7)

778 (0.4)

18 (0.0)

  3

1,662 (0.6)

1,594 (0.6)

68 (0.8)

1,582 (0.7)

80 (0.2)

  4

255,996 (98.9)

247,549 (99.0)

8,447 (97.7)

218,035 (98.8)

37,961 (99.7)

 GCS-V, n (%)

 < .001

 < .001

  1

1,819 (0.7)

1,647 (0.7)

172 (2.0)

1,749 (0.8)

70 (0.2)

  2

2,130 (0.8)

1,996 (0.8)

134 (1.6)

2,053 (0.9)

77 (0.2)

  3

1,014 (0.4)

973 (0.4)

41 (0.5)

948 (0.4)

66 (0.2)

  4

2,094 (0.8)

2,038 (0.8)

56 (0.6)

1,873 (0.8)

221 (0.6)

  5

251,681 (97.3)

243,441 (97.3)

8,240 (95.3)

214,034 (97.0)

37,647 (98.9)

 GCS-M, n (%)

 < .001

 < .001

  1

148 (0.1)

110 (0.0)

38 (0.4)

139 (0.1)

9 (0.0)

  2

103 (0.0)

87 (0.0)

16 (0.2)

97 (0.0)

6 (0.0)

  3

335 (0.1)

268 (0.1)

67 (0.8)

321 (0.1)

14 (0.0)

  4

1,593 (0.6)

1,467 (0.6)

126 (1.5)

1,551 (0.7)

42 (0.1)

  5

3,667 (1.4)

3,538 (1.4)

129 (1.5)

3,468 (1.6)

199 (0.5)

  6

252,892 (97.7)

244,625 (97.8)

8,267 (95.6)

215,081 (97.5)

37,811 (99.3)

 Body weight, mean (SD), kg

58.5 (19.8)

59.5 (18.3)

29.1 (32.5)

 < .001

59.8 (18.4)

51.1 (25.1)

 < .001

Comorbidity

83,719 (32.4)

81,703 (32.7)

2,016 (23.3)

 < .001

78,466 (35.6)

5,253 (13.8)

 < .001

 Coronary artery disease

14,260 (5.5)

13,938 (5.6)

322 (3.7)

 < .001

13,511 (6.1)

749 (2.0)

 < .001

 Malignancy

38,367 (14.8)

37,826 (15.1)

541 (6.3)

 < .001

36,938 (16.7)

1,429 (3.8)

 < .001

 Heart failure

9,016 (3.5)

8,765 (3.5)

251 (2.9)

0.003

8,535 (3.9)

481 (1.3)

 < .001

 COPD

4,321 (1.7)

4,115 (1.6)

206 (2.4)

 < .001

4,130 (1.9)

191 (0.5)

 < .001

 Stroke

21,765 (8.4)

21,274 (8.5)

491 (5.7)

 < .001

20,548 (9.3)

1,217 (3.2)

 < .001

 Dementia

3,636 (1.4)

3,502 (1.4)

134 (1.6)

0.244

3,388 (1.5)

248 (0.7)

 < .001

 Diabetes mellitus

24,274 (9.4)

23,516 (9.4)

758 (8.8)

0.047

22,856 (10.4)

1,418 (3.7)

 < .001

 End-stage renal disease

6,307 (2.4)

6,133 (2.5)

174 (2.0)

0.009

6,022 (2.7)

285 (0.7)

 < .001

 Hypertension

63,651 (24.6)

62,066 (24.8)

1,585 (18.3)

 < .001

59,347 (26.9)

4,304 (11.3)

 < .001

 Liver cirrhosis

5,775 (2.2)

5,610 (2.2)

165 (1.9)

0.039

5,562 (2.5)

213 (0.6)

 < .001

 Peptic ulcer disease

2,544 (1.0)

2,475 (1.0)

69 (0.8)

0.076

2,414 (1.1)

130 (0.3)

 < .001

 Peripheral vascular disease

1,965 (0.8)

1,908 (0.8)

57 (0.7)

0.276

1,854 (0.8)

111 (0.3)

 < .001

 Rheumatic disease

6,512 (2.5)

6,392 (2.6)

120 (1.4)

 < .001

6,107 (2.8)

405 (1.1)

 < .001

Time of presentation

 Month, n (%)

 < .001

 < .001

  1

23,518 (9.1)

22,353 (8.9)

1,165 (13.5)

20,073 (9.1)

3,445 (9.0)

  2

23,656 (9.1)

22,919 (9.2)

737 (8.5)

20,319 (9.2)

3,337 (8.8)

  3

23,373 (9.0)

22,381 (8.9)

992 (11.5)

20,011 (9.1)

3,362 (8.8)

  4

22,203 (8.6)

21,561 (8.6)

642 (7.4)

19,092 (8.7)

3,111 (8.2)

  5

22,808 (8.8)

21,817 (8.7)

991 (11.5)

19,352 (8.8)

3,456 (9.1)

  6

22,321 (8.6)

21,360 (8.5)

961 (11.1)

19,005 (8.6)

3,316 (8.7)

  7

22,163 (8.6)

21,893 (8.8)

270 (3.1)

19,083 (8.6)

3,080 (8.1)

  8

19,224 (7.4)

18,962 (7.6)

262 (3.0)

16,510 (7.5)

2,714 (7.1)

  9

18,328 (7.1)

17,963 (7.2)

365 (4.2)

15,668 (7.1)

2,660 (7.0)

  10

19,579 (7.6)

18,970 (7.6)

609 (7.0)

16,719 (7.6)

2,860 (7.5)

  11

20,091 (7.8)

19,120 (7.6)

971 (11.2)

16,802 (7.6)

3,289 (8.6)

  12

21,474 (8.3)

20,796 (8.3)

678 (7.8)

18,023 (8.2)

3,451 (9.1)

 Day of the week, n (%)

 < .001

 < .001

  Sunday

42,211 (16.3)

40,906 (16.4)

1,305 (15.1)

35,899 (16.3)

6,312 (16.6)

  Monday

38,276 (14.8)

36,925 (14.8)

1,351 (15.6)

32,769 (14.9)

5,507 (14.5)

  Tuesday

36,886 (14.3)

35,506 (14.2)

1,380 (16.0)

31,577 (14.3)

5,309 (13.9)

  Wednesday

32,905 (12.7)

31,757 (12.7)

1,148 (13.3)

28,090 (12.7)

4,815 (12.6)

  Thursday

34,037 (13.2)

32,920 (13.2)

1,117 (12.9)

29,098 (13.2)

4,939 (13.0)

  Friday

35,485 (13.7)

34,387 (13.7)

1,098 (12.7)

30,286 (13.7)

5,199 (13.7)

  Saturday

38,938 (15.0)

37,694 (15.1)

1,244 (14.4)

32,938 (14.9)

6,000 (15.8)

 Time of the day, n (%)

 < .001

 < .001

  00:00–04:00

27,179 (10.5)

26,682 (10.7)

497 (5.8)

24,805 (11.2)

2,374 (6.2)

  04:00–08:00

21,960 (8.5)

21,565 (8.6)

395 (4.6)

20,313 (9.2)

1,647 (4.3)

  08:00–12:00

48,312 (18.7)

46,052 (18.4)

2,260 (26.1)

42,477 (19.3)

5,835 (15.3)

  12:00–16:00

52,702 (20.4)

50,616 (20.2)

2,086 (24.1)

44,132 (20.0)

8,570 (22.5)

  16:00–20:00

55,615 (21.5)

53,497 (21.4)

2,118 (24.5)

44,723 (20.3)

10,892 (28.6)

  20:00–24:00

52,970 (20.5)

51,683 (20.7)

1,287 (14.9)

44,207 (20.0)

8,763 (23.0)

Triage level, n (%)

 < .001

 < .001

  1

528 (0.2)

337 (0.1)

191 (2.2)

476 (0.2)

52 (0.1)

  2

44,505 (17.2)

43,532 (17.4)

973 (11.3)

40,470 (18.3)

4,035 (10.6)

  3

194,476 (75.2)

187,889 (75.1)

6,587 (76.2)

166,266 (75.4)

28,210 (74.1)

  4

16,642 (6.4)

15,817 (6.3)

825 (9.5)

11,458 (5.2)

5,184 (13.6)

  5

2,587 (1.0)

2,520 (1.0)

67 (0.8)

1,987 (0.9)

600 (1.6)

Waiting time, median (IQR), minutes

6.7 (10.9)

6.8 (11.1)

4.4 (5.6)

 < .001

7.0 (11.6)

5.1 (7.6)

 < .001

Time to first supervision, median (IQR), minutes

35.0 (73.0)

36.2 (74.3)

19.9 (33.0)

 < .001

38.5 (77.2)

24.7 (45.7)

 < .001

Disposition

 < .001

 < .001

 Discharge, n (%)

203,864 (78.8)

197,337 (78.9)

6,527 (75.5)

170,571 (77.3)

33,293 (87.4)

 Admission, n (%)

45,709 (17.7)

43,934 (17.6)

1,775 (20.5)

41,491 (18.8)

4,218 (11.1)

Outcomes

 Revisit within 72 h of last discharge, n (%)

7,472 (2.9)

7,123 (2.8)

349 (4.0)

 < .001

6,903 (3.1)

569 (1.5)

 < .001

 Mortality within 7 days after the ED visit, n (%)

1,305 (0.5)

1,268 (0.5)

37 (0.4)

0.309

1,272 (0.6)

33 (0.1)

 < .001

 LOS, median (IQR), minutes

162.1 (438.7)

162.8 (455.0)

141.4 (241.2)

 < .001

184.2 (669.1)

77.2 (99.0)

 < .001

 Medical expenses, median (IQR), dollar

2,885.0 (5,030.0)

2,880.0 (5,049.0)

3,013.0 (4,525.5)

0.018

3,044.0 (5,636.0)

1,986.0 (2,646.0)

 < .001