Table 3.
Presenting characteristics of patients who visited the ED of ASOP, Bologna, Italy, 2022 (n = 12,858).
| Factor | PLoS (i.e., ≥6 days) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total, n (%) (n = 12,858) | With PLoS (n = 7,828) 60.88% | Without PLoS (n = 5,030) 39.12% | Proportion difference (%) (with PLoS—without PLoS) | |
| Age, median | 72 | - | - | - |
| Age categories, n (%) | ||||
| (0–17) | 1,170 (9.1) | 329 (4.2) | 841 (16.7) | −12.5 |
| (18–29) | 679 (5.3) | 158 (2.1) | 521 (10.4) | −8.3 |
| (30–49) | 1,772 (13.8) | 616 (7.9) | 1,176 (23.4) | −15.5 |
| (50–69) | 2,364 (18.4) | 1,554 (19.9) | 810 (16.1) | 3.8 |
| 70 or older | 6,873 (53.5) | 5,171 (66.1) | 1,702 (33.9) | 32.2 |
| Gender, n (%) | ||||
| Male | 6,101 (47.4) | 3,928 (50.2) | 2,173 (43.2) | 7.0 |
| Female | 6,757 (52.6) | 3,900 (49.8) | 2,857 (56.8) | −7.0 |
| Mode of arrival, n (%) | ||||
| Ambulance–118 | 6,645 (51.7) | 4,624 (59.1) | 2,021 (40.2) | 18.9 |
| Own vehicle/walk-in | 4,769 (37.2) | 2,204 (28.2) | 2,565 (51.0) | −22.8 |
| Othersa | 1,444 (11.2) | 1,000 (12.8) | 444 (8.8) | 4.0 |
| Triage category | ||||
| Red | 807 (6.3) | 539 (6.9) | 268 (5.3) | 1.6 |
| Orange | 4,360 (33.9) | 2,367 (30.2) | 1,993 (39.6) | −9.4 |
| Light blue | 4,253 (33.1) | 3,065 (39.2) | 1,188 (23.6) | 15.6 |
| Green | 3,224 (25.1) | 1,784 (22.8) | 1,440 (28.6) | −5.8 |
| White | 214 (1.7) | 73 (0.9) | 141 (2.8) | −1.9 |
| Specialty, n (%) | ||||
| General medicine | 3,757 (29.2) | 2,995 (38.3) | 762 (15.1) | 23.2 |
| Geriatric | 1,624 (12.6) | 1,252 (16.0) | 372 (7.4) | 8.6 |
| Astanteria/casualty department | 1,450 (10.7) | 809 (10.3) | 641 (12.7) | −2.4 |
| Obstetrics and gynecology | 1,159 (9.0) | 114 (1.5) | 1,045 (20.8) | −19.3 |
| Pediatrics | 609 (4.7) | 193 (2.5) | 416 (8.3) | −5.8 |
| General surgery | 571 (4.4) | 276 (3.5) | 295 (5.9) | −2.4 |
| Infectious and tropical diseases | 533 (4.1) | 372 (4.8) | 161 (3.2) | 1.6 |
| Orthopedics and traumatology | 481 (3.7) | 378 (4.8) | 103 (2.0) | 2.8 |
| Urology | 405 (3.2) | 99 (1.3) | 306 (6.1) | −4.8 |
| Coronary unit | 377 (2.9) | 283 (3.6) | 94 (1.9) | 1.7 |
| Pediatric surgery | 376 (2.9) | 77 (1.0) | 299 (5.9) | −4.9 |
| Gastroenterology | 308 (2.4) | 237 (3.0) | 71 (1.4) | 1.6 |
| Cardiology | 150 (1.2) | 96 (1.2) | 54 (1.1) | 0.1 |
| Intensive care | 141 (1.1) | 113 (1.4) | 28 (0.6) | 0.8 |
| Pneumology | 135 (1.1) | 111 (1.4) | 24 (0.5) | 0.9 |
| Nephrology | 105 (0.8) | 91 (1.2) | 14 (0.3) | 0.9 |
| Oncology | 93 (0.7) | 67 (0.9) | 26 (0.5) | 0.4 |
| Vascular surgery | 89 (0.7) | 65 (0.8) | 24 (0.5) | 0.3 |
| Missing values | 76 (0.6) | 30 (0.4) | 46 (0.9) | −0.5 |
| Othersb | 419 (3.3) | 170 (2.2) | 249 (5.0) | −2.8 |
| Problems, n (%) | ||||
| Dyspnea | 1,954 (15.2) | 1,446 (18.5) | 508 (10.1) | 8.4 |
| Abdominal pain | 1,268 (9.9) | 739 (9.4) | 529 (10.5) | −1.1 |
| Fever/hyperpyrexia/hyperthermia | 1,090 (8.5) | 761 (9.7) | 329 (6.5) | 3.2 |
| Problems in pregnancy > 20th week | 944 (7.3) | 70 (0.9) | 847 (16.8) | −15.9 |
| Non-specific minor disorders | 579 (4.5) | 395 (5.0) | 184 (3.7) | 1.4 |
| Chest pain of suspected cardiovascular cause | 524 (4.1) | 329 (4.2) | 195 (3.9) | 0.3 |
| Sincope/pre-sincope | 344 (2.7) | 220 (2.8) | 114 (2.3) | 0.5 |
| Generalized asthenia | 325 (2.5) | 257 (3.3) | 68 (1.4) | 1.9 |
| Politrauma—contusive | 301 (2.3) | 198 (2.5) | 103 (2.0) | 0.5 |
| Pain at the side | 278 (2.2) | 100 (1.3) | 178 (3.5) | −2.3 |
| Nausea and/or vomiting repeated | 269 (2.1) | 150 (1.9) | 119 (2.4) | −0.5 |
| Heart palm/irregular wrist | 251 (2.0) | 156 (2.0) | 95 (1.9) | 0.1 |
| Altered level of consciousness | 234 (1.8) | 165 (2.1) | 69 (1.4) | 0.7 |
| State of confusion | 213 (1.7) | 162 (2.1) | 51 (1.0) | 1.1 |
| Hematochezia/rectorrage/melena | 194 (1.5) | 136 (1.7) | 58 (1.2) | 0.6 |
| Lower limbs injury | 187 (1.5) | 157 (2.0) | 30 (0.6) | 1.4 |
| Cough/congestion | 181 (1.4) | 105 (1.3) | 76 (1.5) | −0.2 |
| Lower limbs pain | 160 (1.2) | 137 (1.8) | 23 (0.5) | 1.3 |
| Chest pain not suspected due to cardiovascular cause | 158 (1.2) | 92 (1.2) | 66 (1.3) | −0.1 |
| Pallor/anemia | 137 (1.1) | 108 (1.4) | 29 (0.6) | 0.8 |
| Request for urgent specialist advice | 135 (1.0) | 94 (1.2) | 41 (0.8) | 0.4 |
| Macro-hematuria | 130 (1.0) | 70 (0.9) | 60 (1.2) | −0.3 |
| Diarrhea | 121 (0.9) | 85 (1.1) | 36 (0.7) | 0.4 |
| Request for prescription or performance | 120 (0.9) | 75 (1.0) | 45 (0.9) | 0.1 |
| Swollen/edematous leg | 119 (0.9) | 104 (1.3) | 15 (0.3) | 1.0 |
| Weakness of extremities/symptoms associated with cerebrovascular disease | 118 (0.9) | 89 (1.1) | 29 (0.6) | 0.6 |
| Symptoms of infection of the urinary tract | 115 (0.9) | 78 (1.1) | 37 (0.7) | 0.3 |
| Diagnostics for biochemical images/examinations | 108 (0.8) | 77 (1.1) | 31 (0.6) | 0.4 |
| Head trauma | 99 (0.8) | 54 (0.7) | 45 (0.9) | −0.2 |
| Otherc | 2,212 (17.2) | 1,219 (15.6) | 993 (19.7) | −4.2 |
aTaxi, helicopter 118, army ambulances, fire brigade, police, etc.
bDamages, Ent (ear, nose, and throat) problem, nephrology (enabled for transplantation), neonatology, pediatric oncology, semi-intensive therapy, maxillo facial surgery, hematology, thoracic surgery ophthalmology, heart surgery, neonatal intensive care, pediatric heart surgery, and dermatology.
cMore than 135 cases.