Diagnostic and therapeutic activities in ED as a function of age group
| Activity | ≥15–<50 | ≥50–<65 | ≥65–<75 | ≥75–<85 | ≥85 | p Value* | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | ||
| Vital-sign monitoring (yes) | 4020 | 4.9 | 1904 | 8.7 | 970 | 12.7 | 1188 | 16.7 | 1256 | 20.7 | <0.00001 |
| Alarms (yes) | 4877 | 5.9 | 1094 | 5.0 | 300 | 3.9 | 249 | 3.5 | 245 | 4.0 | <0.00001 |
| Haematological tests (yes) | 16 627 | 20.1 | 7294 | 33.2 | 3844 | 50.3 | 4661 | 65.4 | 4623 | 76.0 | <0.00001 |
| Biochemical tests (yes) | 19 192 | 23.2 | 7693 | 35.0 | 3951 | 51.7 | 4737 | 66.4 | 4671 | 76.8 | <0.00001 |
| Toxicology tests (yes) | 1572 | 1.9 | 538 | 2.4 | 141 | 1.8 | 110 | 1.5 | 73 | 1.2 | <0.00001 |
| Bacteriological–parasitological tests (yes) | 10 085 | 12.2 | 3312 | 15.1 | 1798 | 23.5 | 2081 | 29.2 | 2011 | 33.1 | <0.00001 |
| Blood-group analyses (yes) | 1398 | 1.7 | 599 | 2.7 | 354 | 4.6 | 462 | 6.5 | 465 | 7.6 | <0.00001 |
| ECG (yes) | 12 112 | 14.7 | 6107 | 27.8 | 3210 | 42.0 | 4009 | 56.2 | 4159 | 68.4 | <0.00001 |
| x-Rays (yes) | 18 698 | 22.6 | 6379 | 29.0 | 2947 | 38.6 | 3574 | 50.1 | 3805 | 62.6 | <0.00001 |
| CT/MRI/ultrasound (yes) | 7276 | 8.8 | 3103 | 14.1 | 1646 | 21.6 | 2019 | 28.3 | 2038 | 33.5 | <0.00001 |
| Blood transfusion (yes) | 35 | 0.0 | 74 | 0.3 | 50 | 0.7 | 67 | 0.9 | 82 | 1.3 | <0.00001 |
| Oral treatment (yes) | 21 364 | 25.8 | 5880 | 26.7 | 2162 | 28.3 | 2059 | 28.9 | 1818 | 29.9 | <0.00001 |
| Drug-aerosol inhalation (yes) | 979 | 1.2 | 521 | 2.4 | 298 | 3.9 | 378 | 5.3 | 333 | 5.5 | <0.00001 |
| Electrolytes added to intravenous lines (yes) | 554 | 0.7 | 203 | 0.9 | 103 | 1.3 | 160 | 2.2 | 135 | 2.2 | <0.00001 |
| Intravenous lines (yes) | 12 293 | 14.9 | 5231 | 23.8 | 2649 | 34.7 | 3200 | 44.9 | 3240 | 53.3 | <0.00001 |
| Intravenous treatment (yes) | 12 581 | 15.2 | 4540 | 20.7 | 2043 | 26.8 | 2426 | 34.0 | 2400 | 39.5 | <0.00001 |
| Other treatment (yes) | 1027 | 1.2 | 550 | 2.5 | 305 | 4.0 | 347 | 4.9 | 392 | 6.4 | <0.00001 |
| Splints, casts, or plaster (yes) | 2739 | 3.3 | 650 | 3.0 | 209 | 2.7 | 249 | 3.5 | 348 | 5.7 | <0.00001 |
| Specialist advice (yes) | 9562 | 11.6 | 3524 | 16.0 | 1437 | 18.8 | 1495 | 21.0 | 1402 | 23.1 | <0.00001 |
| Bladder catheter or gastric tube (yes) | 320 | 0.4 | 352 | 1.6 | 287 | 3.8 | 487 | 6.8 | 610 | 10.0 | <0.00001 |
| Nurse score ≥2 (yes) | 38 456 | 46.5 | 12 040 | 54.8 | 5012 | 65.6 | 5345 | 75.0 | 4967 | 81.7 | <0.00001 |
| Medical score ≥1 (yes) | 30 081 | 36.4 | 10 042 | 45.7 | 4306 | 56.4 | 4804 | 67.4 | 4682 | 77.0 | <0.00001 |
| Total score ≥3 (yes) | 32 333 | 39.1 | 10 780 | 49.0 | 4722 | 61.8 | 5234 | 73.4 | 4994 | 82.1 | <0.00001 |
Data are for categorical variables.
Only data for ‘yes’ (vs ‘no’) category are presented.
*p Value for Fisher exact test comparisons between age groups and studied variables.
ED, emergency department.