Table 2.
Proportions of missings in each vital sign item
| Variables | Entire cohort N=429 | ACH N=179 | STOL N=250 | P-values |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heart Rate | 52 (12)* | 24 (13) | 28 (11) | 0.55¶ |
| Systolic Blood Pressure | 181 (42) | 86 (48) | 95 (38) | 0.038 |
| Capillary Refilling Time | 258 (60) | 106 (59) | 152 (61) | 0.74 |
| Respiratory Rate | 113 (26) | 57 (32) | 56 (22) | 0.029 |
| Respiratory Effort† | 215 (50) | 93 (52) | 122 (49) | 0.52 |
| SpO2 | 87 (20) | 36 (20) | 51 (20) | 0.94 |
| Amount of Oxygen given‡ | 105 (24) | 49 (27) | 56 (22) | 0.24 |
| Glasgow Coma Scale | 337 (79) | 143 (80) | 194 (78) | 0.57 |
| LOC with AVPU | 171 (40) | 72 (40) | 99 (40) | 0.90 |
| Overall LOC# | 128 (30) | 50 (28) | 78 (31) | 0.47 |
| Pupils | 370 (86) | 160 (89) | 210 (84) | 0.12 |
| Body Temperature** | 127 (30) | 53 (30) | 74 (30) | 0.99 |
AOH Alberta Children’s Hospital; AVPU alert, verbal, pain, and unresponsive; LOC Level of continuousness; STOL Stollery Children’s Hospital.
*The number (%) of vital sign item which was not recorded/measured even when it was asked/discussed during triage calls: HR: 2 (1), SBP: 68 (16), CRT: 3(1), RR: 3 (1), SpO2: 3 (1), Amount of Oxygen: 0 (0), GCS: 1 (1), Pupils: 0 (0), Temperature: 2 (1). †Description of the conditions such as mild or severe increased work of breathing. ‡including room air, #No LOC was recorded including rough description of LOC such as ‘lethargic, crying, sleeping’, **categorized as no missing for the cases described as ‘no fever’ or ‘normal temperature’.