Table 1.
Demographic and presenting characteristics of patients aged 75 and above.
| Characteristic | All visits (N=4873) | Visits with severe illness* (N=244) | Visits without severe illness* (N=4629) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sex—no. (%) | |||
| Male | 1909 (39.2) | 96 (39.3) | 1813 (39.1) |
| Female | 2964 (60.8) | 148 (60.7) | 2816 (60.8) |
| Age—mean, yr | 82.9 | 82.3 | 82.9 |
| Race or ethnic group—no.(%)† | |||
| Black or African American | 893 (18.3) | 40 (16.4) | 853 (18.4) |
| White | 3452 (70.8) | 182 (74.6) | 3270 (70.6) |
| Hispanic or Latino | 40 (0.8) | 4 (1.6) | 36 (0.8) |
| Asian | 25 (0.5) | 1 (0.4) | 24 (0.5) |
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 3 (<0.1) | 1 (0.4) | 2 (0.0) |
| Unknown or not reported | 460 (9.4) | 16 (6.7) | 444 (9.6) |
| Insurance status—no.(%) | |||
| Medicare | 3857 (79.2) | 189 (77.5) | 3668 (79.2) |
| Medicaid | 576 (11.8) | 26 (10.7) | 550 (11.9) |
| Initial vital signs—mean (N) | |||
| Systolic blood pressure—mmHg | 143 (4707) | 136 (202) | 144 (4505) |
| Diastolic blood pressure—mmHg | 74 (4703) | 71 (202) | 74 (4501) |
| Pulse—beats/min | 81 (4771) | 90 (209) | 81 (4562) |
| Respiratory rate—breaths/min | 19 (4748) | 19 (206) | 19 (4542) |
| Oxygen saturation—% | 97 (4215) | 96 (200) | 97 (4015) |
| Temperature—°C | 36.5 (4455) | 36.4 (168) | 36.5 (4287) |
| ESI level‡—mean | 2.7 | 1.8 | 2.8 |
*
Severe illness or injury defined by occurrence of intensive care unit admission or death in the emergency department.
†
Race or ethnic group as recorded in the patient’s chart.
‡
ESI is the emergency severity index score which has five levels; 1=most acute and 5=least acute