. 2020 Nov 3;15(11):e0241624. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241624

Table 1. Characteristics of patients with processed referral in Ocean by method of referral.

Characteristics N (%)	All Patients N = 15503	Ocean eReferral N (%)	Paper-based Referrals N (%)	P value (eReferral vs. Paper-based)
Characteristics N (%)	All Patients N = 15503	1723 (11)	13780 (89)	P value (eReferral vs. Paper-based)
Gender, N (%)				P = 0.306
Male	6732 (43.7)	694 (40.3)	6038 (43.8)
Female	8771 (56.3)	1029 (59.7)	7742 (56.2)
Age				P = 0.602
Mean (SD)	66.28 (15.5)	67.73 (14.4)	66.09 (16.6)	P = 0.602
Subregion N (%)				P< 0.001*
ESC	2671 (17.2)	59 (3.4) ^a	2612 (18.9) ^b
NE	6606 (42.6)	353 (20.5) ^a	6253 (45.7) ^b
SE	3396 (21.9)	110 (6.4) ^a	3286 (23.7) ^b
WW	2830 (18.3)	1201 (69.7) ^a	1629 (11.7) ^b
Joint affected N (%)				P = 0.109
Hip	4889 (31.5)	519 (30.1)	4370 (31.7)
Knee	10614 (68.6)	1204 (69.9)	9410 (68.3)

*Significant difference at p< 0.05; Non-significant difference at p≥ 0.05.

*Significant difference using Post hoc analysis using Bonferroni correction was accepted at p <0 .01. Different letters between groups = Significant difference (p<0.01); same letters between group means = Non-significant difference (p≥0.01).