Comparisons of patient demographics, triage acuity and ED process data between the two study groups
| Group 1* | Group 2† | |
|---|---|---|
| (N=42346) | (N=42528) | |
| Age in years, median (Q1, Q3) | 3 (1, 6) | 3 (2, 6) |
| Male patients, n (%) | 24085 (56.88) | 24232 (56.98) |
| Acuity distribution, n (%) | ||
| Level 1 | 11915 (28.14) | 5929 (13.94) |
| Level 2 | 8856 (20.91) | 3996 (9.40) |
| Level 3 | 16229 (38.32) | 21141 (49.71) |
| Level 4 | 5346 (12.62) | 9516 (22.38) |
| Level 5 | 1946 (4.58) | |
| Shift distribution, n (%) | ||
| 08 : 00–16 : 00 | 14128 (33.36) | 13901 (32.69) |
| 16 : 00–24 : 00 | 17471 (41.26) | 17547 (41.26) |
| 00 : 00–08 : 00 | 10747 (25.38) | 11080 (26.05) |
| Final disposition, n (%) | ||
| Discharged from ED | 32639 (77.08) | 33146 (77.94) |
| Admitted to ward | 9170 (21.65) | 8789 (20.67) |
| Admitted to PICU | 530 (1.25) | 591 (1.39) |
| Expired | 7 (0.02) | 2 (0.00) |
| Medical resource utilisation | ||
| LOS in the ED (min), median (Q1, Q3) | 84 (38, 192) | 85 (38, 178) |
| ED costs (NT dollars), median (Q1, Q3) | 1552 (1171, 2945) | 1627 (1210, 3031) |
| Chief complains,‡ n (%) | ||
| Fever | 19271 (45.51) | 19187 (45.12) |
| Vomiting and/or nausea | 3778 (8.92) | 4038 (9.49) |
| Cough | 3377 (7.97) | 3702 (8.70) |
| Abdominal pain | 3400 (8.03) | 3387 (7.96) |
| Diarrhoea | 1885 (4.45) | 1660 (3.90) |
| Rash | 1187 (2.80) | 1281 (3.01) |
| Shortness of breath | 990 (2.34) | 1037 (2.44) |
| URTI complaints | 459 (1.08) | 759 (1.78) |
| Sore throat | 679 (1.60) | 731 (1.72) |
| Localised swelling/redness | 545 (1.29) | 522 (1.23) |
| Earache | 582 (1.37) | 480 (1.13) |
| Seizure | 50 (1.30) | 476 (1.12) |
| Headache | 410 (0.97) | 421 (0.99) |
| Inconsolable crying in infants | 363 (0.86) | 363 (0.85) |
| Foreign body | 171 (0.40) | 279 (0.66) |
| Others | 4699 (11.10) | 4205 (9.89) |
*Patients treated in 2008.
†Patients treated in 2010.
‡The top 15 chief complaints were identified and arranged in descending order of frequency from the 2010 patient presentations and the frequency was then compared with the 2008 presentations.
ED, emergency department; LOS, length of stay; PICU, paediatric intensive care unit; URTI, upper respiratory tract infection.