Table 2.
Characteristics of Patients Utilizing Primary and Emergency Care During Out-of-Hours
| Primary Care Physician | Emergency Department | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 2001 | 1998 | 2001 | |||||
| N | % (95% CI) | N | % (95% CI) | N | % (95% CI) | N | % (95% CI) | |
| Diagnoses* | ||||||||
| Musculoskeletal or skin | 295 | 20.4 (18.3–22.5) | 665 | 34.6 (32.5–36.7) | 312 | 57.0 (52.9–61.2) | 125 | 44.0 (38.2–49.8) |
| Respiratory tract | 259 | 17.9 (15.9–19.9) | 288 | 15.0 (13.4–16.6) | 29 | 5.3 (3.4–7.2) | 28 | 9.9 (6.4–13.3) |
| Digestive tract | 234 | 16.2 (14.3–18.1) | 250 | 13.0 (11.5–14.5) | 54 | 9.9 (7.4–12.4) | 31 | 10.9 (7.3–14.5) |
| Others | 659 | 45.5 (43.0–48.1) | 719 | 37.4 (35.2–39.6) | 152 | 27.8 (24.0–31.5) | 100 | 35.2 (29.7–40.8) |
| Total | 1447 | 100.0 | 1922 | 100.0 | 547 | 100.0 | 284 | 100.0 |
| Missing | 145 | 9.1 | 68 | 3.4 | 60 | 9.9 | 4 | 1.4 |
| *Chi-square test: χ21 df=81.941; P<.001 | *Chi-square test: χ21 df=15.287; P=.002 | |||||||
| Gender* | ||||||||
| Male | 601 | 42.0 (39.4–44.5) | 927 | 46.6 (44.4–48.8) | 336 | 55.6 (51.7–59.6) | 160 | 55.6 (49.8–61.3) |
| Female | 831 | 58.0 (55.5–60.6) | 1062 | 53.4 (51.2–55.6) | 268 | 44.4 (40.4–48.3) | 128 | 44.4 (38.7–50.2) |
| Total | 1432 | 100.0 | 1989 | 100.0 | 604 | 100.0 | 288 | 100.0 |
| Missing | 160 | 10.1 | 1 | 0.1 | 3 | 0.5 | – | |
| Chi-square test: χ21 df=7.243; P=.007 | Chi-square test: NS | |||||||
| Age (y)* | ||||||||
| 0–10 | 362 | 27.7 (25.2–30.1) | 365 | 18.3 (16.6–20.0) | 86 | 14.2 (11.4–16.9) | 31 | 10.8 (7.2–14.3) |
| 11–50 | 581 | 44.4 (41.7–47.1) | 1009 | 50.7 (48.5–52.9) | 347 | 57.2 (53.2–61.1) | 129 | 44.8 (39.0–50.5) |
| >50 | 366 | 28.0 (25.5–30.4) | 616 | 31.0 (28.9–33.0) | 174 | 28.7 (25.1–32.3) | 128 | 44.4 (38.7–50.2) |
| Total | 1309 | 100.0 | 1990 | 100.0 | 607 | 100.0 | 288 | 100.0 |
| Missing | 283 | 17.8 | – | – | – | |||
| *Chi-square test: χ21 df=39.996; P<.001 | *Chi-square test: χ21 df=21.768; P<.001 | |||||||
CI, confidence interval.