Table 2.
ED and patient characteristics
| N (%)/mean (SD) | N (%)/mean (SD) | N (%)/mean (SD) | N (%)/mean (SD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NET sample | NET-Plus sample | |||
| Control 1 | Intervention 2 | Control 3 | Intervention 4 | |
| ED structural characteristics | ||||
| Hospital type (private) | 1 (6%) | 1 (7%) | 1 (7%) | 1 (10%) |
| Hospital type (public) | 16 (94%) | 13 (93%) | 13 (93%) | 9 (90%) |
| Trauma unit | 3 (18%) | 4 (29%) | 2 (14%) | 3 (30%) |
| Short stay unit | 13 (76%) | 10 (71%) | 10 (71%) | 6 (60%) |
| Annual presentation rate 2012, mean (SD) | 44,710 (22593) | 41,255 (16512) | 44,592 (25046) | 36,852 (16913) |
| Annual presentation rate 2012, median (IQR) | 42,495 (34,313 to 46,690) | 41,574 (27,075 to 55,667) | 38,816 (32,833 to 52,963) | 32,612 (25,646 to 47,189) |
| Existence of protocol for mTBI | 4 (24%) | 3 (21%) | 3 (21%) | 3 (30%) |
| NET-Plus | 14 (82%) | 13 (93%) | 14 (100%) | 10 (100%) |
| Rurality (regional) | 7 (41%) | 5 (36%) | 6 (43%) | 4 (40%) |
| Patient characteristics | ||||
| Age | 50.9 (23.65) | 54.2 (24.93) | 53.5 (20.59) | 55.2 (21.17) |
| Sex (% male) | 476 (45%) | 390 (44%) | 105 (48%) | 51 (41%) |
| After hours presentation | 748 (71%) | 653 (73%) | 149 (68%) | 90 (72%) |
| Initial GCS 15 | 961 (92%) | 768 (86%) | 213 (98%) | 115 (92%) |
| Initial GCS 14 | 89 (8%) | 125 (14%) | 5 (2%) | 10 (8%) |
| Mechanism of injury, incidental fall | 492 (47%) | 481 (54%) | 113 (52%) | 65 (52%) |
| Mechanism of injury, road traffic | 58 (6%) | 51 (6%) | 11 (5%) | 10 (8%) |
| Mechanism of injury, violence/assault | 250 (24%) | 163 (18%) | 36 (17%) | 15 (12%) |
| Mechanism of injury, sport | 62 (6%) | 55 (6%) | 17 (8%) | 11 (9%) |
| Mechanism of injury, others | 179 (17%) | 137 (15%) | 41 (19%) | 24 (19%) |
| Mechanism of injury, unclear/not reported | 9 (0.9%) | 6 (0.7%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Presence other injuries (outside head) | 508 (48%) | 516 (58%) | 105 (48%) | 63 (50%) |
| Alcohol/illicit drug involvement | 237 (23%) | 206 (23%) | 28 (13%) | 15 (12%) |
| Pre-existing coagulopathy or anti-coagulant or anti-platelet drugs | 175 (17%) | 165 (18%) | 37 (17%) | 17 (14%) |
| Known previous neurological condition | 202 (19%) | 191 (21%) | 26 (12%) | 13 (10%) |
| Known neurosurgery | 14 (1.3%) | 18 (2.0%) | 2 (0.9%) | 3 (2.4%) |
| Scalp laceration | 532 (51%) | 464 (52%) | 130 (60%) | 67 (54%) |
| Scalp haematoma | 400 (38%) | 372 (42%) | 79 (36%) | 42 (34%) |
| Clinical suspicion of skull fracture | 51 (4.9%) | 57 (6%) | 8 (3.7%) | 8 (6%) |
| Loss of consciousness | 186 (18%) | 155 (17%) | 50 (23%) | 18 (14%) |
| Vomiting | 56 (5%) | 49 (5%) | 12 (6%) | 4 (3.2%) |
| Headache | 259 (25%) | 231 (26%) | 44 (20%) | 37 (30%) |
| Post traumatic seizure | 3 (0.3%) | 6 (0.7%) | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (1.6%) |
| Focal neurological deficit | 21 (2.0%) | 13 (1.5%) | 5 (2.3%) | 3 (2.4%) |
1Number of patients = 1050; numbers of clusters = 17
2Number of patients = 893; number of clusters = 14
3Number of patients = 218; number of clusters = 14
4Number of patients = 125; number of clusters = 10