Table 1. Baseline characteristics of patients, treatments, hospitalization for patients undergoing appendectomy.
| Group | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All patients | Study group | Control group | |||
| 2020/1/1-2020/6/30 | 2019/1/1-2019/7/1 | ||||
| N = 307 | N = 149 | N = 158 | |||
| Variables | n (%), mean +–SD | n (%), mean +–SD | n (%), mean +–SD | P | |
| Patient characteristics | |||||
| Age (years) | (range 6–91) | 46.2 +– 19.8 | 45.9 +– 20.0 | 46.4 +– 19.7 | 0.808 |
| Sex | 0.592 | ||||
| Female | 147 (47.9) | 69 (46.3) | 78 (49.4) | ||
| Male | 160 (52.1) | 80 (53.7) | 80 (50.6) | ||
| Comorbidity | 0.617 | ||||
| 0 | 269 (87.6) | 132 (88.6) | 137 (86.7) | ||
| > = 1 | 38 (12.4) | 17 (11.4) | 21 (13.3) | ||
| NHI coverage | 0.369 | ||||
| No | 6 (2.0) | 4 (2.7) | 2 (1.3) | ||
| Yes | 301 (98.0) | 145 (97.3) | 156 (98.7) | ||
| Treatment characteristics | |||||
| Abdominal CT | 0.656 | ||||
| No | 27 (8.8) | 12 (8.1) | 15 (9.5) | ||
| Yes | 280 (91.2) | 137 (91.9) | 143 (90.5) | ||
| Fecolith | 0.144 | ||||
| No | 218 (71.0) | 100 (67.1) | 118 (74.7) | ||
| Yes | 89 (29.0) | 49 (32.9) | 40 (25.3) | ||
| Severity of appendicitis | 0.213 | ||||
| Mild/normal | 101/11 (36.5) | 42/5 (31.5) | 59/6 (41.1) | ||
| Uncomplicated | 146 (47.6) | 77 (51.7) | 69 (43.7) | ||
| Complicated | 49 (16.0) | 25 (16.8) | 24 (15.2) | ||
| Surgery type | 0.343 | ||||
| Laparoscopic appendectomy | 186 (60.6) | 90 (60.4) | 96 (60.8) | ||
| Open appendectomy | 119 (38.8) | 57 (38.3) | 62 (39.2) | ||
| Drainage only | 2 (0.7) | 2 (1.3) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Anesthesia | 0.196 | ||||
| General | 244 (79.5) | 123 (82.6) | 121 (76.6) | ||
| Epidural/subdural | 63 (20.5) | 26 (17.4) | 37 (23.4) | ||
| Wound type | 0.333 | ||||
| Dirty or contaminated | 77 (25.1) | 40 (26.8) | 37 (23.4) | ||
| Clean contaminated | 114 (37.1) | 59 (39.6) | 55 (34.8) | ||
| Clean | 116 (37.8) | 50 (33.6) | 66 (41.8) | ||
| Operation time (minutes) | (range 20–168) | 67 +– 27 | 68 +– 29 | 66 +– 25 | 0.590 |
| Hospitalization characteristics | |||||
| Hospital stay (days) | (range 1–28) | 5.0 +– 3.2 | 5.0 +– 2.9 | 4.9 +– 3.5 | 0.992 |
| Hospital stay (days, after surgery only) | (range 1–28) | 4.4 +– 3.1 | 4.4 +– 2.9 | 4.5 +– 3.4 | 0.818 |
| median, IQR | 3, 3–5 | 3, 2–5 | 3, 3–5 | ||
| Medical expenditure (NT dollars) | (range 25876–329085) | 76517 +– 38842 | 77608 +– 36767 | 75487 +– 40792 | 0.633 |
| median, IQR | 65698, 51212–92114 | 67060, 52175–91425 | 63066, 50980–92397 | ||
N, n: Number; SD: Standard deviation; comorbidity index codified according to Charlson Comorbidity Index (Deyo version); NHI: National Health Insurance (Taiwan); CT: Computed tomography; NT dollars: New Taiwan dollars; 1 US dollar = 30 NT dollars); IQR: Interquartile range.