Table 1.
Demographic characteristics of patients with appendicitis in Taiwan from 2000 to 2011
| Variable | Total(n = 294,544) | Male(n = 156,371) | Female(n = 134,141) | P | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | n | % | ||
| Age Stratum | < 0.001 | ||||||
| 0–14 y/o | 38,222 | 12.98 % | 23,382 | 14.95 % | 14,803 | 11.04 % | |
| 15–29 y/o | 91,965 | 31.22 % | 48,056 | 30.73 % | 41,589 | 31.00 % | |
| 30–44 y/o | 78,384 | 26.61 % | 41,305 | 26.41 % | 35,528 | 26.49 % | |
| 45–59 y/o | 48,590 | 16.50 % | 25,001 | 15.99 % | 23,478 | 17.50 % | |
| 60 y/o or more | 37,383 | 12.69 % | 18,627 | 11.91 % | 18,743 | 13.97 % | |
| Comorbidities a | < 0.001 | ||||||
| 0 | 281,756 | 95.66 % | 149,510 | 95.61 % | 128,227 | 95.59 % | |
| 1 | 11,732 | 3.98 % | 6,235 | 3.99 % | 5,485 | 4.09 % | |
| ≥ 2 | 1056 | 0.36 % | 626 | 0.40 % | 429 | 0.32 % | |
| Readmission for complication b | < 0.001 | ||||||
| No | 285,359 | 96.88 % | 150,293 | 96.11 % | 131,091 | 97.73 % | |
| Yes | 9,185 | 3.12 % | 6,078 | 3.89 % | 3,050 | 2.27 % | |
| Hospital Mortality | < 0.001 | ||||||
| No | 294,197 | 99.88 % | 156,147 | 99.86 % | 134,019 | 99.91 % | |
| Yes | 347 | 0.12 % | 224 | 0.14 % | 122 | 0.09 % | |
| Operation Type | < 0.001 | ||||||
| OA | 223,145 | 80.46 % | 119,052 | 80.88 % | 100,278 | 79.41 % | |
| LA | 54,178 | 19.54 % | 28,147 | 19.12 % | 26,007 | 20.59 % | |
| Hospital Level c | < 0.001 | ||||||
| District Hospital | 58,303 | 19.68 % | 30,513 | 19.40 % | 26,160 | 19.38 % | |
| Regional Hospital | 139,070 | 46.93 % | 74,210 | 47.17 % | 63,211 | 46.83 % | |
| Medical Center | 98,946 | 33.39 % | 52,585 | 33.43 % | 45,597 | 33.78 % | |
| Area level | < 0.001 | ||||||
| Urban | 252994 | 85.72 % | 133,743 | 85.34 % | 115,859 | 86.20 % | |
| Suburban | 38568 | 13.07 % | 21,004 | 13.40 % | 17,014 | 12.66 % | |
| Rural | 3594 | 1.22 % | 1,965 | 1.25 % | 1,536 | 1.14 % | |
OA Open Appendectomy LA Laparoscopic Appendectomy
A total of 4,032 records of appendicitis patients were missing information regarding gender
The denominator for “Operation Type” was the total number of patients who underwent a primary appendectomy (277,323)
a Comorbidities were identified by referring to the ICD-9-CM codes, as described in Appendix C in [17]
b Readmission for complication was defined as readmission with the diagnosis of a commonly encountered postoperative complication within 1 month after an appendectomy (Appendix B in [17])
c In Taiwan, there are four types of accreditation (medical center, regional hospital, district hospital, and unaccredited hospital). Unaccredited hospital refers to clinic, special pharmacy, and home care organizations; they cannot treat appendicitis patients. Therefore, in the present paper, we separate hospitals into three groups by accreditation status: medical center, regional hospital, and district hospital