Table 1. Baseline Characteristics of Patients in the Telemedicine and Telephone Arms.
| Patient factor | Intention-to-treat analysis | Treatment-received analysis | Per-protocol analysis | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assigned, No. (%) | P valuea | Received, No. (%) | P valuea | Assigned and received, No. (% | P valuea | ||||
| Telephone (n = 159) | Telemedicine (n = 537) | Telephone (n = 445 | Telemedicine (n = 251 | Telephone (n = 136) | Telemedicine (n = 228) | ||||
| Patient age, y | |||||||||
| Mean (SD) | 3.67 (4.40) | 4.39 (4.67) | .18 | 4.22 (4.77) | 4.22 (4.36) | >.99 | 3.76 (4.53) | 4.33 (4.42) | .42 |
| Median (IQR) | 1.63 (0.24-5.59) | 2.33 (0.54-7.67) | 1.84 (0.31 7.65) | 2.39 (0.65-7.43) | 1.6 (0.3-6.2) | 2.5 (0.7-7.6) | |||
| Sex | |||||||||
| Female | 73 (45.9) | 231 (43.0) | .62 | 200 (44.9) | 104 (41.4) | .19 | 61 (44.9) | 92 (40.4) | .21 |
| Male | 86 (54.1) | 306 (57.0) | 245 (55.1) | 147 (58.6) | 75 (55.2) | 136 (59.6) | |||
| Insurance status | |||||||||
| Private | 39 (24.5) | 105 (19.6) | .02 | 92 (20.7) | 52 (20.7) | .99 | 36 (26.5) | 49 (21.5) | .17 |
| Medicaid/self-pay/no insurance/other | 120 (75.5) | 432 (80.4) | 353 (79.3) | 199 (79.3) | 100 (73.5) | 179 (78.5) | |||
| Race and ethnicity | |||||||||
| Hispanic | 20 (12.6) | 105 (19.6) | .29 | 76 (17.1) | 49 (19.5) | .30 | 19 (14.0) | 48 (21.0) | .37 |
| Non-Hispanic | |||||||||
| Black | 13 (8.2) | 51 (9.5) | 49 (11.0) | 15 (6.0) | 13 (9.6) | 15 (6.6) | |||
| Mixed and unreported racesb | 21 (13.2) | 91 (16.9) | 66 (14.8) | 46 (18.3) | 87 (64.0) | 123 (53.9) | |||
| White | 105 (66.0) | 290 (54.0) | 254 (57.1) | 141 (56.2) | 17 (12.5) | 42 (18.4) | |||
| ED arrival by EMS | |||||||||
| Yes | 33 (20.8) | 131 (24.4) | .21 | 115 (25.8) | 49 (19.5) | .09 | 26 (19.1) | 42 (18.4) | .87 |
| No | 126 (79.2) | 406 (75.6) | 330 (74.2) | 202 (80.5) | 110 (80.9) | 186 (81.6) | |||
| Chief signs and symptomsc | |||||||||
| Asthma/wheezing | 12 (7.4) | 54 (10.1) | .48 | 45 (10.1) | 21 (8.4) | <.001 | 11 (8.1) | 20 (8.8) | .10 |
| Cough | 16 (10.1) | 61 (11.4) | 43 (9.7) | 34 (13.5) | 14 (10.3) | 32 (14.0) | |||
| Respiratory (other) | 26 (16.4) | 82 (15.3) | 63 (14.2) | 45 (17.9) | 22 (16.2) | 41 (18.0) | |||
| Seizure | 16 (10.1) | 50 (9.3) | 44 (9.9) | 22 (8.8) | 14 (10.3) | 20 (8.8) | |||
| Fever | 12 (7.4) | 49 (9.1) | 35 (7.9) | 26 (10.4) | 10 (7.4) | 24 (10.5) | |||
| Vomiting | 13 (8.2) | 41 (7.6) | 38 (8.5) | 16 (6.4) | 12 (8.8) | 15 (6.6) | |||
| Altered mental status | 18 (11.3) | 34 (6.3) | 41 (9.2) | 11 (4.5) | 15 (11.0) | 8 (3.5) | |||
| Other | 46 (28.9) | 166 (30.9) | 136 (30.6) | 76 (30.3) | 38 (27.9) | 68 (29.8) | |||
| RePEAT score | |||||||||
| Mean (SD) | 1.60 (0.58) | 1.57 (0.56) | .60 | 1.61 (0.55) | 1.51 (0.59) | .19 | 1.59 (0.57) | 1.50 (0.58) | .36 |
| Median (IQR) | 1.61 (1.13-2.08) | 1.54 (1.09-2.02) | 1.59 (1.16-2.08) | 1.49 (1.00-1.96) | 1.59 (1.15-2.03) | 1.47 (1.00-1.95) | |||
| RePEAT probability of admission | |||||||||
| Mean (SD) | 0.38 (0.23) | 0.36 (0.23) | .40 | 0.38 (0.22) | 0.34 (0.23) | .15 | 0.37 (0.23) | 0.33 (0.23) | .27 |
| Median (IQR) | 0.36 (0.18-0.56) | 0.35 (0.17-0.54) | 0.36 (0.19-0.56) | 0.31 (0.12-0.52) | 0.36 (0.18-0.56) | 0.36 (0.12-0.50) | |||
| Distance between ED and UCDCH, km | |||||||||
| Mean (SD) | 162.6 (75.5) | 151.0 (79.0) | .23 | 160.3 (79.7) | 141.8 (74.6) | .22 | 162.1 (76.9) | 139.4 (74.9) | .19 |
| Median (IQR) | 117 (117-240) | 117 (80-240) | 135 (80-240) | 117 (117-240) | 126 (99-240) | 117 (80-204) | |||
Abbreviations: ED, emergency department; RePEAT, Revised Pediatric Emergency Assessment Tool; UCDCH, University of California Davis Children’s Hospital.
From Pearson χ2 tests (categorical variables) or Wald tests (continuous variables) adjusted for clustering at the hospital-level.
Race and ethnicity were combined into a single variable with 4 distinct options: Hispanic of all races, non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic mixed and unreported races. Mixed race includes American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and other race or ethnicity.
Only 7 of the most frequent chief signs and symptoms listed here; other category includes 34 additional chief signs and symptoms, which are factored into the RePEAT score.