Table 2

Demographics of error versus non-error cases

Patient and initial ED characteristicsNon-errors
n=65		Errors
n=35		p Value
Age (years), mean (SD)41.4 (15.1)43.7 (12.1)0.41
Weight (kg), mean (SD)77.7 (20.3)78.2 (18.9)0.92
Length of Stay (h), mean (SD)13.8 (6.2)10.3 (4.5)0.002*
Number of ED visits in prior 3 months, mean (SD)0.9 (1.5)0.2 (0.6)0.002
Duration of pain at initial visit (days), mean (SD)2.8 (1.6)2.5 (1.5)0.37
History of mental health disorder, n (%)†10 (15.4)4 (11.4)0.14
History of substance abuse, n (%)†14 (21.5)4 (11.4)0.03
History of abdominal surgery, n (%)†28 (43.1)17 (48.6)0.32
English as a primary language, n (%)†37 (58.7)18 (51.4)0.55
Seen by nurse practitioner or physician's assistant, n (%)†15 (23.1)17 (48.6)0.01*
Primary diagnosis unknown at initial visit, n (%)†1 (1.5)2 (5.7)0.28
Differential diagnosis documented at initial visit, n (%)†41 (66.1)17 (51.5)0.19
Differential diagnosis did not include true diagnosis, n (%)†10 (25.0)13 (37.1)0.03*
Abnormal laboratory at initial visit, n (%)†43 (66.2)28 (80.0)0.17
Abnormal laboratory documented at initial visit, n (%)†29 (45.3)9 (25.7)0.004*
Abnormal imaging at initial visit, n (%)†28 (66.7)12 (54.5)0.42
Abnormal imaging documented at initial visit, n (%)†20 (33.3)7 (20.6)0.42
Abnormal results not adequately addressed at initial visit, n (%)†0 (0.0)15 (42.9)<0.0001
Inappropriate time to follow-up, n (%)†15 (23.4)12 (34.3)0.35
Inappropriate return precautions given, n (%)†7 (10.8)4 (11.4)0.58

  • *Remained significant on multivariable analysis.

  • †Percentages are for errors (or non-errors) with the exposure (eg, history of mental health disorder). Only the number of patients with the exposure in each error group are presented, but non-exposure percentages can be recreated by subtracting the number of each exposure group from the total number for each column and dividing by the total sample size.

  • Bold indicates a significant p-value < or = 0.05

  • ED, emergency department.