Table 1.
Number, demographics and outcomes of new referrals and patients seen in clinics in the prepandemic and postpandemic setting
| Prepandemic (January–December 2019) | Postpandemic (January–December 2022) | Test statistic/p value | ||
| New referrals | Number of referrals | n=7294 | n=6989 | – |
| Gender | 42 % M/58% FM | 41% M/59% FM | χ2=1.11/p=0.291 | |
| Age (years) | ||||
| Mean±SD | 51.72±19.06 | 52.34±19.71 | t=−1.96/p=0.051 | |
| Referral modality | Electronic order=762 (10.45%) Email=237 (3.25%) eReferral=5117 (70.15%) Fax=13 (0.12%) Letter=1151 (15.78%) Telephone=14 (0.12%) |
Electronic order=768 (10.99%) Email=164 (2.35%) eReferral=4884 (69.88%) Fax=1 (0.01%) Letter=1171 (16.75%) Telephone=0 |
– | |
| Number of clinic appointments given (% of referrals) | 4946 (67.80%) | 3976 (56.89%) | χ2=180.75/ p<2.2 × 10−6* | |
| First clinic appointments | Gender | 43 % M/57% FM | 43 % M/ 57% FM | χ2=0.0002/p=0.988 |
| Age (years) | ||||
| Mean±SD | 51.56±18.74 | 52.95±19.38 | t=−3.42/p=0.00062* | |
| Time to consultation (days) | ||||
| Median (IQR) | 73 (61) | 73 (61) | Z=1.3217/ p=0.1863 | |
| Modality of clinic appointment | F2F=4912 (99.31%) Telephone=34 (0.69%) Video=0 |
F2F=3052 (76.76%) Telephone=852 (21.43%) Video=72 (1.81%) |
χ2=1170/ p<2.2×10−6* | |
| Discharged after first clinic appointment (%) | 54.71% | 45.52% | χ2=75.42/ p<2.2×10−6* |
*Denotes statistical significance at p<0.05.
F, Female; F2F, face-to-face ; M, Male; t, t-test statistic; Z, Mood’s median test statistic.