Table 1.
Total distribution of EMS assignments and characteristics with comparison of female and male
| Total | Female | Male | P1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 6652 | n = 3525 | n = 3127 | ||
| Age – years (25th,75th percentiles) | ||||
| Median | 66 (42,82) | 69 (42,84) | 64 (42,79) | < 0.001 |
| Medical historya – n (%) | ||||
| Diseases of the circulatory system I00-I99 | 6137 (28.6) | 3121 (26.9) | 3016 (30.7) | < 0.001 |
| Mental and behavioural disorders F00-F99 | 3811 (17.8) | 2056 (17.7) | 1755 (17.8) | 0.830 |
| Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases E00-E89 | 1906 (8.9) | 1102 (9.5) | 804 (8.2) | 0.001 |
| Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue M00-M99 | 1449 (6.8) | 1034 (8.9) | 415 (4.2) | < 0.001 |
| Diseases of the digestive system K00-K95 | 1225 (5.7) | 713 (6.1) | 512 (5.2) | 0.003 |
| No medical history | 904 (13.6) | 442 (12.5) | 462 (14.8) | 0.008 |
| Dispatcher priority – n (%) (15,18)b | < 0.001 | |||
| Priority 1 | 3249 (49.1) | 1647 (46.9) | 1602 (51.5) | |
| Priority 2 | 3071 (46.4) | 1700 (48.4) | 1371 (44.1) | |
| Priority 3 | 299 (4.5) | 163 (4.6) | 136 (4.4) | |
| Dispatch medical indexc – n (%) (12,19)b | ||||
| Chest pain/cardiac disease | 991 (15.0) | 514 (14.6) | 477 (15.3) | 0.427 |
| Extremity/wound minor trauma | 804 (12.1) | 448 (12.8) | 356 (11.5) | 0.113 |
| Uncertain information/suspicion of severe illness | 726 (11.0) | 341 (9.7) | 385 (12.4) | 0.001 |
| Respiratory difficulties | 708 (10.7) | 412 (11.7) | 296 (9.5) | 0.004 |
| Abdominal/urinary tract symptoms | 704 (10.6) | 306 (11.3) | 308 (9.9) | 0.079 |
| EMS contact on multiple occasionsd – n (%) | 0.580 | |||
| One occasion | 5450 (91.0) | 2873 (90.8) | 2577 (91.3) | |
| Two occasions | 422 (7.0) | 230 (7.3) | 192 (6.7) | |
| Three occasions | 75 (1.3) | 39 (1.2) | 36 (1.3) | |
| Four or more occasions | 40 (0.7) | 21 (0.7) | 19 (0.7) | |
| Initial assessment of level of care – n (%) | ||||
| Hospital | 5340 (80.3) | 2763 (78.4) | 2577 (82.4) | < 0.001 |
| Emergency department | 4920 (92.1) | 2526 (91.4) | 2394 (92.9) | 0.045 |
| Bypass emergency departmente | 420 (7.9) | 237 (8.6) | 183 (7.1) | |
| Referral to primary care | 143 (2.1) | 82 (2.3) | 61 (2.0) | 0.310 |
| Stay on scene with increased social/home care | 100 (1.5) | 56 (1.6) | 44 (1.4) | 0.614 |
| Stay on scene with advice on self-care/medication | 1069 (16.1) | 624 (17.7) | 445 (14.2) | < 0.001 |
| Mode of transport for patients initially assessed to hospital – n (%) | 0.020 | |||
| Ambulance | 4979 (93.2) | 2555 (92.5) | 2424 (94.1) | |
| Patient transport | 141 (2.6) | 77 (2.8) | 64 (2.5) | |
| Seated transport | 159 (3.0) | 94 (3.4) | 65 (2.5) | |
| Police | 20 (0.4) | 17 (0.6) | 3 (0.1) | |
| Own transportation | 41 (0.8) | 20 (0.7) | 21 (0.8) | |
1P values calculated for female, male groups
aThe five most common medical history ICD-10 chapters, a patient can have more than one diagnosis
bMissing in each group respectively
cThe five most common dispatch medical indices
dCalculated on indviduals respectively and number of EMS contacts in study period including renewed contact (total n = 6712)
eBypass including pathway stroke, hip fracture, cardiac ICU, cath-lab, admission by EMS directly to geriatric ward, infection ward and psychiatric ED