Table 1.
Patient demographics and operations before and after process improvement interventions
| Baseline (n = 374) | After implementation (n = 1839) | P ** | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) * | 35·7(16·4) | 34·0(14·5) | 0·061†† |
| ≤ 25 | 108 (29·0) | 572 (31·2) | 0·125 |
| 26–30 | 78 (21·0) | 449 (24·5) | |
| 31–40 | 82 (22·0) | 396 (21·6) | |
| ≥ 41 | 104 (28·0) | 416 (22·7) | |
| Missing | 2 | 6 | |
| Sex ratio (M : F) | 250 : 124 | 1321 : 518 | 0·053 |
| Urgency | < 0·001 | ||
| Elective | 235 (62·8) | 892 (48·5) | |
| Emergency | 139 (37·2) | 947 (51·5) | |
| Type of operation | < 0·001 | ||
| Orthopaedic† | 6 (1·6) | 31 (1·7) | |
| Soft tissue‡ | 20 (5·3) | 70 (3·8) | |
| Ear, nose and throat§ | 42 (11·2) | 128 (7·0) | |
| Gynaecological¶ | 15 (4·0) | 46 (2·5) | |
| Vascular | 6 (1·6) | 36 (2·0) | |
| Appendicectomy | 32 (8·6) | 183 (10·0) | |
| Cholecystectomy | 12 (3·2) | 28 (1·5) | |
| Colorectal | 21 (5·6) | 104 (5·7) | |
| Caesarean | 107 (28·6) | 737 (40·1) | |
| Hernia | 9 (2·4) | 58 (3·2) | |
| Hysterectomy | 16 (4·3) | 39 (2·1) | |
| Gastrointestinal/laparotomy# | 54 (14·4) | 307 (16·7) | |
| Urological | 34 (9·1) | 71 (3·9) | |
| Missing | 0 | 1 | |
| Wound classification | 0·100 | ||
| Clean | 68 (18·2) | 316 (17·2) | |
| Clean contaminated | 254 (67·9) | 1185 (64·5) | |
| Contaminated | 40 (10·7) | 288 (15·7) | |
| Dirty | 12 (3·2) | 49 (2·7) | |
| Missing | 0 | 1 |
Values in parentheses are percentages unless indicated otherwise;
*
values are mean(s.d.).
†
Includes extremity amputations;
‡
includes skin, breast and external anal procedures;
§
head and neck operations, including thyroid;
¶
includes operations for ectopic pregnancy;
#
gastrointestinal and other intra‐abdominal operations via a laparotomy.
**
χ2 test, except
††
Student's t test with Satterthwaite method.