Relative risk of hospital admission, death and utilisation of diagnostic tools by age and admission route, comparing high acuity/priority cluster to low acuity/priority cluster (n=23 615)
| Age groups | Admission route | Admission hospital | Death | Utilisation at ED | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x-Ray | Laboratory | ECG | |||||||||
| RR | 95% CI | RR | 95% CI | RR | 95% CI | RR | 95% CI | RR | 95% CI | ||
| All ages | Med† | 4.77*** | 4.14 to 5.49 | 5.50*** | 4.21 to 7.19 | 1.20*** | 1.14 to 1.27 | 1.77*** | 1.70 to 1.83 | 2.98*** | 2.82 to 3.15 |
| Surg‡ | 5.53*** | 4.19 to 7.30 | 7.20*** | 3.10 to 16.76 | 1.09 | 0.98 to 1.22 | 4.28*** | 3.34 to 5.48 | 4.73*** | 3.45 to 6.50 | |
| Combined§ | 4.86 | 4.28 to 5.52 | 5.58 | 4.31 to 7.22 | 1.18 | 1.12 to 1.24 | NH | NH | NH | NH | |
| 18 to 35 | Med | 3.89*** | 2.30 to 6.57 | ¶ | ¶ | 1.11 | 0.94 to 1.30 | 1.89*** | 1.71 to 2.10 | 3.47*** | 2.90 to 4.14 |
| Surg | 6.16*** | 3.00 to 12.66 | ¶ | ¶ | 0.95 | 0.76 to 1.18 | 4.39*** | 2.73 to 7.04 | 6.53*** | 3.02 to 14.1 | |
| Combined | 4.38 | 2.86 to 6.73 | ¶ | ¶ | 1.05 | 0.93 to 1.20 | NH | NH | 3.56*** | 3.00 to 4.23 | |
| 36 to 50 | Med | 4.07*** | 2.85 to 5.23 | 6.18* | 2.41 to 15.88 | 1.00 | 0.88 to 1.15 | 1.88*** | 1.73 to 2.05 | 2.88*** | 2.52 to 3.30 |
| Surg | 4.91*** | 2.68 to 9.01 | ¶ | ¶ | 1.14 | 0.94 to 1.39 | 3.78*** | 2.15 to 6.66 | 4.16*** | 1.98 to 8.73 | |
| Combined | 4.21*** | 3.09 to 5.76 | ¶ | ¶ | 1.04 | 0.92 to 1.16 | NH | NH | 2.91 | 2.55 to 3.31 | |
| 51 to 70 | Med | 4.84*** | 3.72 to 6.29 | 4.09*** | 2.53 to 6.60 | 1.20 | 1.09 to 1.33 | 1.75*** | 1.64 to 1.87 | 2.82*** | 2.55 to 3.12 |
| Surg | 7.16*** | 4.26 to 12.04 | 8.35 | 0.88 to 79.62 | 1.10 | 0.88 to 1.38 | 4.41*** | 2.59 to 7.49 | 5.36*** | 2.79 to 10.3 | |
| Combined | 5.06 | 3.98 to 6.43 | 4.15 | 2.59 to 6.66 | 1.19** | 1.08 to 1.30 | NH | NH | NH | NH | |
| > 70 | Med | 3.77*** | 3.08 to 4.62 | 4.26*** | 3.02 to 6.02 | 1.17*** | 1.08 to 1.27 | 1.45*** | 1.37 to 1.54 | 2.40*** | 2.21 to 2.61 |
| Surg | 5.53*** | 3.57 to 8.55 | 7.36* | 2.84 to 19.05 | 1.27 | 0.98 to 1.62 | 5.01*** | 3.31 to 7.60 | 4.88*** | 3.06 to 7.77 | |
| Combined | 3.90 | 3.23 to 4.71 | 4.40 | 3.17 to 6.11 | 1.18 | 1.09 to 1.28 | NH | NH | NH | NH | |
*p<0.05;**p<0.001;***p<0.0001.
†14 021 valid cases.
‡9594 valid cases.
§Combined Mantel–Heanszel relative risk, only presented if the relative risks in the med and surg strata were homogeneous.
¶Not computable due to inexistent deaths high and low acuity/priority cluster; NH, not homogeneous (relative risks from the strata were not homogeneous so the combined relative risk is not presented).
ED, emergency department; Med, medical specialties; Surg, surgical specialties.