Table 1.

Demographics and outcomes before and after policy change

		Before change	After change	p-value
Demographics
Median age (IQR)		63.6 (48.6–74.1)	63.9 (49.0–74.7)	0.663
Sex	Male	917 (93.8%)	969 (93.9%)
	Female	61 (6.2%)	63 (6.1%)	0.902
Type of hernia	Primary	872 (89.2%)	940 (91.1%)
	Recurrent	106 (10.8%)	92 (8.9%)	0.148
Day case	Yes	712 (72.8%)	779 (75.5%)
	No	266 (27.2%)	253 (24.5%)	0.170
Outcomes
Presentation	Elective	943 (96.4%)	975 (94.5%)
	Emergency	35 (3.6%)	57 (5.5%)	0.037
Any complication	No	933 (95.4%)	970 (94.0%)
	Yes	45 (4.6%)	62 (6.0%)	0.160
Major complication	No	970 (99.2%)	1,021 (98.9%)
	Yes	8 (0.8%)	11 (1.1%)	0.566
Postoperative death	No	976 (99.8%)	1,028 (99.6%)
	Yes	2 (0.2%)	4 (0.4%)	0.688

IQR = interquartile range