Table I.
Weighted Demographics of Encounters of Emergency General Surgery Patients Directly Admitted versus Transferred in from an Acute Care Hospital in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (2008–2011)
| Variable | Study Group | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Transferred | Directly Admitted | P value | |
| (n= 274,145) | (n= 10,456,100) | ||
| Age in years, mean (CI) | 60.1 (59.6–60.6) | 58.7 (58.5–58.9) | <0.0001 |
| Gender, % (n) | |||
| Male | 49.1 (134,702) | 45.6 (4,776,937) | <0.0001 |
| Female | 50.9 (139,442) | 54.3 (5,679,163) | |
| Race, % (n) | |||
| White | 60.5 (165,842) | 60.5 (6,324,274) | <0.0001 |
| Black | 8.0 (21,895) | 11.0 (1,154,965) | |
| Hispanic | 5.1 (13,876) | 10.2 (1,062,338) | |
| Other | 4.7 (12,930) | 4.7 (496,347) | |
| Missing | 21.7 (59,601) | 13.6 (1,418,176) | |
| Primary Insurance, % (n) | |||
| Medicare | 49.8 (136,627) | 44.9 (4,689,935) | <0.0001 |
| Medicaid | 10.7 (29,282) | 11.1 (1,158,967) | |
| Private insurance | 28.9 (79,106) | 30.8 (3,219,442) | |
| Other | 10.6 (29,130) | 13.3 (1,387,756) | |
| Median Household Income, % (n) | |||
| 0–25th percentile | 34.6 (94,966) | 27.4 (2,860,717) | <0.0001 |
| 26th–50th percentile | 31.5 (86,329) | 25.7 (2,692,022) | |
| 51st–75th percentile | 20.2 (55,480) | 24.6 (2,577,177) | |
| 76th–100th percentile | 13.6 (37,369) | 22.2 (2,326,184) | |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index, % (n) | |||
| 0 | 37.4 (102,419) | 46.5 (4,857,138) | <0.0001 |
| 1 | 23.4 (64,022) | 23.9 (2,503,132) | |
| 2 | 15.4 (42,238) | 12.8 (1,338,368) | |
| 3+ | 23.9 (65,466) | 16.8 (1,757,462) | |
| EGS Diagnosis Groups, % (n) | |||
| Hepatic-pancreatic-biliary | 24.6 (67,380) | 20.7 (2,165,405) | <0.0001 |
| Upper gastrointestinal tract | 19.7 (53,890) | 20.0 (2,094,072) | |
| Soft tissue | 11.9 (32,542) | 19.2 (2,004,296) | |
| Colorectal | 15.0 (41,223) | 18.2 (1,898,605) | |
| Intestinal obstruction | 11.0 (30,170) | 9.9 (1,034,131) | |
| General abdominal conditions | 5.5 (15,075) | 5.6 (588,989) | |
| Hernias | 3.4 (9,329) | 3.1 (321,540) | |
| Vascular | 5.7 (15,617) | 2.5 (266,230) | |
| Cardiothoracic | 2.6 (7,160) | 0.6 (62,792) | |
| Other | 0.5 (1,433) | 0.1 (15,430) | |
| Resuscitation | 0.1 (326) | 0.04 (4,610) | |
| Procedure Groups, % (n) | |||
| None | 64.5 (176,913) | 67.1 (7,016,306) | <0.0001 |
| Gallbladder | 7.5 (20,473) | 9.8 (1,023,444) | |
| Appendix | 2.7 (7,378) | 6.1 (638,656) | |
| Bone/soft tissue | 3.7 (10,213) | 5.1 (528,482) | |
| Colon | 4.2 (11,604) | 3.1 (320,812) | |
| Hernia | 1.7 (4,598) | 1.8 (183,288) | |
| Intra-abdominal adhesions | 2.1 (5,736) | 1.6 (167,973) | |
| Stomach | 3.0 (8,141) | 1.5 (161,234) | |
| Small bowel | 3.1 (8,446) | 1.5 (159,780) | |
| Blood vessel | 3.1 (8,518) | 0.7 (76,297) | |
| Rectum/anus | 0.3 (819) | 0.7 (71,124) | |
| Heart/lung/chest cavity | 1.7 (4,759) | 0.4 (45,229) | |
| Liver/bile duct | 0.3 (894) | 0.1 (8,447) | |
| Exploratory laparotomy | 0.4 (1,047) | 0.1 (14,035) | |
| Extremity (amputations) | 0.3 (744) | 0.1 (11,950) | |
| Laparoscopy | 0.1 (265) | 0.1 (8,881) | |
| Ear/nose/throat | 0.5 (1,261) | 0.1 (9,085) | |
| Pancreas | 0.8 (2,229) | 0.1 (8,500) | |
| Bladder | 0.03 (78) | 0.02 (2,374) | |
| Kidney | 0.01 (30) | 0.002 (202) | |
| Day of the week of admission, % (n) | |||
| Monday-Friday | 74.2 (203,466) | 75.4 (7,884,832) | <0.0001 |
| Saturday-Sunday | 25.8 (70,679) | 24.6 (2,571,268) | |