Table 3.
Sample characteristics and their bivariate associations with high-acuity outcomes among 10–17-year-old adolescents utilizing pediatric emergency services in Taiwan, by sex
| Variable | Male | Female | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (N = 9,355) | High-acuity outcomea (N = 1,338) | Total (N = 7,555) | High-acuity outcomea (N = 1,170) | |||||||
| n | Col % | n HAO | Row % | P | n | Col % | n HAO | Row % | P | |
| Age Group (years) | * | |||||||||
| 10–12 | 3,807 | 40.7 | 529 | 13.9 | 2,815 | 37.3 | 401 | 14.2 | ||
| 13–15 | 3,471 | 37.1 | 478 | 13.8 | 2,728 | 36.1 | 429 | 15.7 | ||
| 16–17 | 2,077 | 22.2 | 331 | 15.9 | 2,012 | 26.6 | 340 | 16.9 | ||
| Triage Level b | * | * | ||||||||
| Level 1 | 233 | 2.5 | 50 | 21.5 | 193 | 2.6 | 41 | 21.2 | ||
| Level 2 | 686 | 7.3 | 124 | 18.1 | 531 | 7.0 | 98 | 18.5 | ||
| Level 3 | 7,045 | 75.3 | 1,053 | 14.9 | 5,681 | 75.2 | 916 | 16.1 | ||
| Level 4 | 1,364 | 14.6 | 111 | 8.1 | 1,135 | 15.0 | 114 | 10 | ||
| Level 5 | 27 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0.2 | 1 | 6.7 | ||
| Time of the ED Visit | * | * | ||||||||
| 08:00–15:59 | 3,059 | 32.7 | 494 | 16.1 | 2,587 | 34.2 | 447 | 17.3 | ||
| 16:00–23:59 | 4,374 | 46.8 | 574 | 13.1 | 3,482 | 46.1 | 477 | 13.7 | ||
| 00:00–07:59 | 1,922 | 20.5 | 270 | 14.0 | 1,486 | 19.7 | 246 | 16.6 | ||
| Number of Abnormal Vital Signs c | * | * | ||||||||
| 0 | 2,710 | 29.0 | 314 | 11.6 | 2,574 | 34.1 | 303 | 25.9 | ||
| 1 | 3,370 | 36.0 | 494 | 14.7 | 2,498 | 33.1 | 426 | 36.4 | ||
| 2 | 2,467 | 26.4 | 416 | 16.9 | 1,865 | 24.7 | 335 | 28.6 | ||
| ≥3 | 808 | 8.6 | 114 | 14.1 | 618 | 8.2 | 106 | 9.1 | ||
| Glasgow Coma Scale d | * | * | ||||||||
| 15 | 9,034 | 96.6 | 1,261 | 14.0 | 7,339 | 97.1 | 1,102 | 15.0 | ||
| 13–14 | 246 | 2.6 | 39 | 15.9 | 162 | 2.1 | 35 | 21.6 | ||
| 9–12 | 63 | 0.7 | 29 | 46.0 | 53 | 0.7 | 32 | 60.4 | ||
| 3–8 | 12 | 0.1 | 9 | 75.0 | 1 | 0.0 | 1 | 100.0 | ||
a The four high-acuity outcomes include: (1) intensive care unit (ICU) admission or in-ED death; (2) inpatient ward admission; (3) return to the ED within 72 h for the same presenting complaint; and (4) ED length of stay exceeding 6 h. Col % represents the proportion of cases within each category of the variable, calculated as (n for the category/Total N) × 100. The percentages are specific to each variable and sum to 100% within each variable because all cases are distributed across the defined categories. nHAO represents the number of ED visits listed in that row that resulted in any high-acuity outcome. Row % indicates the percentage of ED visits listed in that row that resulted in any high-acuity outcome, calculated as (nHAO/n) x 100
b Level 1 indicates the most urgent condition that requires immediate treatment. Level 5 indicates the least urgent condition
c Vital signs include: heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and respiratory rate
d A neurological scale consisting of three tests: eye, verbal, and motor responses, with a score of 3 indicating the most severe condition
*P < 0.05