Table 1. Descriptive Characteristics and Outcomes.
| Characteristic | Patients, Mean % (SD) | P Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low-Burden Hospitals (n = 73) |
Medium-Burden Hospitals (n = 178) |
High-Burden Hospitals (n = 98) |
||
| Patients | ||||
| Age, y | ||||
| 0-4 | 0.5 (0.9) | 0.8 (1.6) | 2.0 (3.0) | <.001 |
| 5-9 | 6.0 (5.2) | 9.1 (8.5) | 13.0 (10.0) | <.001 |
| 10-19 | 11.9 (8.5) | 16.2 (9.7) | 22.3 (11.2) | <.001 |
| 20-29 | 20.8 (12.1) | 24.0 (9.9) | 24.5 (9.9) | .045 |
| 30-39 | 17.9 (11.6) | 15.8 (6.4) | 15.6 (7.6) | .13 |
| 40-49 | 18.4 (8.4) | 16.2 (7.1) | 11.9 (6.7) | <.001 |
| 50-59 | 14.3 (12.0) | 11.1 (5.6) | 6.8 (5.2) | <.001 |
| 60-69 | 10.1 (15.6) | 6.7 (4.0) | 3.8 (3.8) | <.001 |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||
| White | 65.8 (26.6) | 64.5 (26.3) | 25.4 (25.7) | <.001 |
| Black | 2.9 (26.6) | 2.4 (4.0) | 4.5 (8.3) | .01 |
| Hispanic | 22.0 (21.8) | 27.0 (22.6) | 64.8 (25.9) | <.001 |
| Other | 2.8 (4.9) | 6.9 (9.2) | 11.9 (14.1) | <.001 |
| Female sex | 39.7 (15.2) | 37.5 (9.2) | 35.0 (7.1) | .02 |
| Insurance | ||||
| Medicaid | 5.5 (5.8) | 21.1 (10.8) | 42.2 (15.7) | <.001 |
| Uninsured | 5.6 (5.2) | 10.7 (7.0) | 14.0 (10.1) | <.001 |
| Private | 80.9 (16.4) | 56.5 (15.9) | 28.7 (16.0) | <.001 |
| Laparoscopy | 71.9 (24.6) | 60.7 (27.6) | 51.6 (30.1) | <.001 |
| Nonperforated appendicitis, acute | 72.9 (16.0) | 72.1 (10.7) | 68.4 (10.4) | .048 |
| Perforated appendicitis | 23.6 (16.2) | 23.6 (9.5) | 27.6 (8.6] | .005 |
| Negative appendectomy | 3.6 (4.1) | 4.3 (6.2) | 4.0 (10.3) | .77 |
| Complications | 5.7 (11.5) | 5.0 (3.9) | 4.5 (3.1) | .44 |
| Infectious | 3.9 (11.5) | 3.2 (3.2) | 2.7 (2.5) | .39 |
| Gastrointestinal | 1.1 (1.1) | 1.0 (1.4) | 1.2 (1.1) | .42 |
| Other | 1.1 (1.2) | 1.2 (1.0) | 1.0 (1.2) | .51 |
| Length of stay, mean (SD), d | 3.3 (6.5) | 2.6 (1.0) | 2.9 (0.8) | .21 |
| Cost, mean (SD), $ | 12 205 (9933) | 11 077 (5466) | 12 786 (27 287) | .69 |
| Hospital | ||||
| Teaching hospital, % | 2.7 | 5.1 | 14.3 | .004 |