Table 1.
Characteristics of all emergency department visitors aged ≤18 years over 6 months in seven Dutch hospitals classified as complying or not complying with screening policy
| Hospitals complying with screening policy | Hospitals not complying with screening policy | Total | p Value* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency department visitors | 13 109 | 11 363 | 24 472 | |
| Age in years (range) | 7.6 (0–18) | 6.0 (0–18) | 6.9 (0–18) | <0.001 |
| 0–4 | 4799 (37%) | 5747 (51%) | 10 546 (43%) | |
| 5–8 | 2233 (17%) | 1938 (17%) | 4171 (17%) | |
| 9–12 | 2210 (17%) | 1366 (12%) | 3576 (15%) | |
| 13–18 | 3829 (29%) | 2157 (19%) | 5986 (25%) | |
| Sex (male) | 7353 (56%) | 6401 (56%) | 13 754 (56%) | 0.58 |
| Referrer | ||||
| Self-referral | 5505 (43%) | 6937 (63%) | 12 442 (52%) | <0.001 |
| General practitioner | 2921 (23%) | 2622 (24%) | 5543 (23%) | |
| Other | 4469 (35%) | 1383 (13%) | 5852 (25%) | |
| Treating specialist | ||||
| Surgeon | 7616 (58%) | 6924 (61%) | 14 540 (60%) | <0.001 |
| Paediatrician | 4641 (36%) | 3106 (28%) | 7747 (32%) | |
| Other | 833 (6%) | 1257 (11%) | 2090 (9%) | |
| Completed checklists | 4726 (36%) | 43 (0.4%) | 4769 (20%) | <0.001 |
| Suspected child abuse cases in the emergency department | 43 (0.3%) | 9 (0.1%) | 52 (0.2%) | <0.001 |
*
Continuous variable (age) calculated with Wilcoxon rank test; categorical variables calculated with the χ2 test.