Table 2.
Demographic characteristics for low-income population and normal population patients with appendicitis in Taiwan between 2003 and 2011
| Variable | Low income population (n = 2,916) | Normal population (n = 209,206) | pvalue | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | ||
| Gender a | 0.000 | ||||
| Female | 1,455 | 49.90% | 112,421 | 53.74% | |
| Male | 1,455 | 49.90% | 95,551 | 45.67% | |
| Undefined | 6 | 0.21% | 1,234 | 0.59% | |
| Comorbidities c | 0.000 | ||||
| 0 | 2,766 | 94.69% | 198,878 | 94.93% | |
| 1 | 140 | 4.79% | 9,714 | 4.64% | |
| ≥2 | 15 | 0.52% | 912 | 0.43% | |
| Complicated appendicitis | 0.000 | ||||
| No | 2,142 | 73.46% | 154,798 | 73.99% | |
| Yes | 774 | 26.54% | 54,408 | 26.01% | |
| Readmission for complication | 0.003 | ||||
| No | 2,820 | 96.71% | 202,830 | 96.95% | |
| Yes | 96 | 3.29% | 6,376 | 3.05% | |
| Hospital mortality | 0.000 | ||||
| No | 2,904 | 99.59% | 208,953 | 99.88% | |
| Yes | 12 | 0.41% | 253 | 0.12% | |
| Diagnostic accuracy b | 0.004 | ||||
| No | 79 | 2.94% | 7,162 | 3.63% | |
| Yes | 2,608 | 97.06% | 190,166 | 96.37% | |
| Hospital level c | 0.000 | ||||
| District hospital | 686 | 23.39% | 34,876 | 16.55% | |
| Regional hospital | 1,530 | 52.17% | 103,730 | 49.21% | |
| Medical center | 717 | 24.45% | 72,175 | 34.24% | |
| Area level c | 0.000 | ||||
| Urban | 2,219 | 75.97% | 179,919 | 85.78% | |
| Suburban | 647 | 22.15% | 27,761 | 13.24% | |
| Rural | 55 | 1.88% | 2,064 | 0.98% | |
a“Undefined” indicates that information regarding sex is missing.
bThe denominator of “Diagnostic Accuracy” was the total number of patients with primary appendectomy (2,687 LIP patients and 197,328 NP patients).
cThe sum number of hospital level, area level, and comorbidities was larger than the total patients in each subgroups, because some patients with appendicitis may be admitted to different hospital (the hospitals may differ in hospital level or area level), or with different comorbidities at different times.