Table 4.
Patients' characteristics.
| Patients' characteristics and EMTS specifics |
Overall (n = 379) |
Medically Indicated* (n = 147) |
Medically not Indicated* (n = 223) |
Definite medical evaluation not possible (n = 9) |
OR | 95 %-CI | p-value* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender* | |||||||
| Male | 211 (55.7 %) | 86 (58.5 %) | 121 (54.3 %) | 4 (44.4 %) | 1.2 | 0.78–1.81 | 0.42 |
| Female | 168 (44.3 %) | 61 (41.5 %) | 102 (45.7 %) | 5 (55.6 %) | |||
| Age# | |||||||
| ≤28 days | 2 (0.5 %) | 0 (0.0 %) | 2 (0.9 %) | 0 (0.0 %) | 0.42 | ||
| 29 days−1 year | 43 (11.3 %) | 17 (11.6 %) | 25 (11.2 %) | 1 (11.1 %) | |||
| 1–12 years | 186 (49.1 %) | 79 (53.7 %) | 104 (46.6 %) | 3 (33.3 %) | |||
| 13–20 years | 148 (39.1 %) | 51 (34.7 %) | 92 (41.3 %) | 5 (55.6 %) | |||
| Type of referral* | |||||||
| Ambulance | 279 (73.6 %) | 86 (58.5 %) | 185 (83.0 %) | 8 (88.9 %) | 3.5 | 2.13–5.56 | 0 |
| Emergency physician | 100 (26.4 %) | 61 (41.5 %) | 38 (17.0 %) | 1 (11.1 %) | |||
| Type of treatment* | |||||||
| Out-patient | 136 (35.9 %) | 27 (18.4 %) | 105 (47.1 %) | 4 (44.4 %) | 4 | 2.43–6.67 | 0 |
| In-patient | 243 (64.1 %) | 120 (81.6 %) | 118 (52.9 %) | 5 (55.6 %) | |||
| Time of presentation | |||||||
| 8 a.m.−4 p.m. | 171 (45.1 %) | 64 (43.5 %) | 107 (48.0 %) | 0 (0.0 %) | 0.43 | ||
| 4–22 p.m. | 122 (32.2 %) | 45 (30.6 %) | 71 (31.8 %) | 6 (66.7 %) | |||
| 22 p.m.−8 a.m. | 86 (22.7 %) | 38 (25.9 %) | 45 (20.2 %) | 3 (33.3 %) | |||
| Weekday of presentation* | |||||||
| Workday | 254 (67.0 %) | 95 (64.6 %) | 154 (69.1 %) | 5 (55.6 %) | 1.2 | 0.79–1.89 | 0.37 |
| Weekend | 125 (33.0 %) | 52 (35.4 %) | 69 (30.9 %) | 4 (44.4 %) | |||
| Season# | |||||||
| January–March | 142 (37.5 %) | 43 (29.3 %) | 94 (42.2 %) | 5 (55.6 %) | 0.1 | ||
| April–June | 78 (20.6 %) | 35 (23.8 %) | 43 (19.3 %) | 0 (0.0 %) | |||
| July–September | 67 (17.7 %) | 30 (20.4 %) | 36 (16.1 %) | 1 (11.1 %) | |||
| October–December | 92 (24.3 %) | 39 (26.5 %) | 50 (22.4 %) | 3 (33.3 %) | |||
| Child with chronic medical condition* | |||||||
| Yes | 120 (31.7 %) | 48 (32.7 %) | 70 (31.4 %) | 2 (22.2. %) | 1.1 | 0.68–1.66 | 0.8 |
| No | 259 (68.3 %) | 99 (67.3 %) | 153 (68.6 %) | 7 (77.8 %) | |||
| Child with long-term medication* | |||||||
| Yes | 93 (24.5 %) | 39 (26.5 %) | 54 (24.2 %) | 0 (0.0 %) | 1.1 | 0.70–1.82 | 0.62 |
| No | 286 (75.5 %) | 108 (73.5 %) | 169 (75.8 %) | 9 (100 %) | |||
| Duration of symptoms | |||||||
| Acute | 293 (77.3 %) | 126 (85.7 %) | 158 (70.9 %) | 9 (100 %) | 2.5 | 1.43–4.26 | 0.001 |
| Non-acute | 86 (22.7 %) | 21 (14.3 %) | 65 (29.1 %) | 0 (0.0 %) | |||
| Receiving medical treatment because of current complaints* | |||||||
| Yes | 136 (35.9 %) | 45 (30.6 %) | 90 (40.4 %) | 1 (11.1 %) | 1.5 | 0.99–2.38 | 0.06 |
| No | 243 (64.1 %) | 102 (69.4 %) | 133 (59.6 %) | 8 (88.9 %) | |||
| Doctor's appointment because of current complaints* | |||||||
| Yes | 29 (7.7 %) | 12 (8.2 %) | 17 (7.6 %) | 0 (0.0 %) | 1.1 | 0.25–2.33 | 0.85 |
| No | 350 (92.3 %) | 135 (91.8 %) | 206 (92.4 %) | 9 (100 %) | |||
| Localization at onset of symptoms# | |||||||
| Private setting | 220 (58.0 %) | 91 (61.9 %) | 123 (55.2 %) | 6 (66.7 %) | 0.3 | ||
| Public setting | 79 (20.8 %) | 30 (20.4 %) | 46 (20.6 %) | 3 (33.3 %) | |||
| Kindergarten/school | 80 (21.1 %) | 26 (17.7 %) | 54 (24.2 %) | 0 (0.0 %) | |||
Data are presented as absolute number and percentages (brackets). Percentage refers to absolute numbers within the same group.
OR, odds ratio.
95%-CI = 95%-confidence interval.
*
Binary logistic regression analysis was computed with the forward and backward method (Wald). In cases of conflicting results between the two methods, only results from backward computed logistic regression are reported.
#
Fisher's exact test if one of the expected cell frequencies was <5; Chi2 test if all the expected cell frequencies were ≥5.
p-values <0.05 were considered statistical significant.
Significant values are indicated in bold.