Table 1.
Personal and ED visit characteristics by ED visit classification from three representative study cohorts (LHID2000, LHID2005, LHID2010) in Taiwan. (n = 1,000,000 for each cohort; total ED visits, n = 475,862).
| Characteristics | Emergent Visits | Non-Emergent ED Visits | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 109,183 | (%) | n = 208,234 | (%) | p-Value | |
| Systematic-level factor | <0.001 | ||||
| 2000 | 72,624 | (27.1) | 49,381 | (23.7) | |
| 2005 | 95,635 | (35.7) | 72,348 | (34.7) | |
| 2010 | 99,469 | (37.2) | 86,405 | (41.5) | |
| Demographic factors | |||||
| Gender | <0.001 | ||||
| Female | 127,003 | (47.4) | 111,312 | (53.5) | |
| Male | 140,719 | (52.6) | 96,815 | (46.5) | |
| Age group | <0.001 | ||||
| 0–19 | 78,256 | (29.2) | 70,419 | (33.8) | |
| 20–39 | 67,189 | (25.1) | 52,477 | (25.2) | |
| 40–59 | 55,280 | (20.6) | 40,393 | (19.4) | |
| 60–79 | 48,729 | (18.2) | 33,726 | (16.2) | |
| 80– | 18,274 | (6.8) | 11,119 | (5.3) | |
| Comorbidities | <0.001 | ||||
| Charlson‘s index, mean, (SD) | 2.8 | (6.33) | 2.2 | (5.76) | |
| Socioeconomic factors | |||||
| Income level (NTD) | <0.001 | ||||
| Dependent | 109,087 | (40.7) | 93,241 | (44.8) | |
| 1–19999 | 89,431 | (33.4) | 61,322 | (29.5) | |
| 20000–39999 | 50,969 | (19.0) | 39,293 | (18.9) | |
| 40000– | 18,241 | (6.8) | 14,278 | (6.9) | |
| Geographical Residence | <0.001 | ||||
| Northern area | 137,985 | (51.5) | 103,466 | (49.7) | |
| East area | 9,771 | (3.6) | 6,090 | (2.9) | |
| Middle area | 45,387 | (17.0) | 38,390 | (18.4) | |
| Southern area | 74,585 | (27.9) | 60,188 | (28.9) | |
| Urbanization of living area | <0.001 | ||||
| Most urbanization | 75,390 | (28.2) | 58,356 | (28.0) | |
| More urbanization | 77,997 | (29.1) | 61,560 | (29.6) | |
| Middle urbanization | 47,178 | (17.6) | 37,252 | (17.9) | |
| Less urbanization | 38,749 | (14.5) | 30,436 | (14.6) | |
| Least urbanization | 28,414 | (10.6) | 20,530 | (9.9) | |
| Past health utilization in last year | |||||
| No. of hospitalizations | <0.001 | ||||
| None | 195,207 | (72.9) | 160,505 | (77.1) | |
| One time | 38,841 | (14.5) | 27,737 | (13.3) | |
| ≥ two times | 33,680 | (12.6) | 19,892 | (9.6) | |
| No. of ED visits | <0.001 | ||||
| None | 124,897 | (46.7) | 102,837 | (49.4) | |
| Low (1–2 times) | 90,953 | (34.0) | 70,450 | (33.8) | |
| High (≥3 times) | 51,878 | (19.4) | 34,847 | (16.7) | |
| No. of outpatient visits | <0.001 | ||||
| Low (0-11 times) | 96,740 | (36.1) | 76,866 | (36.9) | |
| Middle (12-26 times) | 86,096 | (32.2) | 68,418 | (32.9) | |
| High (≥ 27 times) | 84,892 | (31.7) | 62,850 | (30.2) | |
| No. of TCM outpatient visits 1 | <0.001 | ||||
| None | 185,426 | (69.3) | 141,928 | (68.2) | |
| Low (1–2 times) | 39,721 | (14.8) | 31,578 | (15.2) | |
| High (≥ 3 times) | 42,581 | (15.9) | 34,628 | (16.6) | |
| Hospital accreditation level | <0.001 | ||||
| Medical centers | 36,954 | (13.8) | 95,237 | (45.8) | |
| Metropolitan hospitals | 50,656 | (18.9) | 177,672 | (85.4) | |
| Local community hospitals | 21,573 | (8.1) | 93,770 | (45.1) | |
| Season | <0.001 | ||||
| Spring (Mar–May) | 69,444 | (25.9) | 52,606 | (25.3) | |
| Summer (Jun–Aug) | 66,096 | (24.7) | 55,362 | (26.6) | |
| Fall (Sep–Nov) | 60,918 | (22.8) | 46,896 | (22.5) | |
| Winter (Dec–Feb) | 71,270 | (26.6) | 53,270 | (25.6) | |
| Public holiday | <0.001 | ||||
| No (781 days) | 168,376 | (62.9) | 126,754 | (60.9) | |
| Yes (314 days) | 99,352 | (37.1) | 81,380 | (39.1) | |
| Day of the week | <0.001 | ||||
| Monday | 36,650 | (13.7) | 28,267 | (13.6) | |
| Tuesday | 33,885 | (12.7) | 25,950 | (12.5) | |
| Wednesday | 33,222 | (12.4) | 24,966 | (12.0) | |
| Thursday | 33,461 | (12.5) | 24,562 | (11.8) | |
| Friday | 33,582 | (12.5) | 25,178 | (12.1) | |
| Saturday | 40,349 | (15.1) | 31,139 | (15.0) | |
| Sunday | 56,579 | (21.1) | 48,072 | (23.1) | |
| Cost-sharing payment | <0.001 | ||||
| Yes | 221,614 | (82.8) | 170,475 | (81.9) | |
| Waived | 46,114 | (17.2) | 37,659 | (18.1) | |
1 TCM: Traditional Chinese Medicine was considered a mainstream visit in addition to outpatient clinics and was covered in Taiwan’s insurance scheme.