Table 1 Characteristics of the elderly population who visited the ED
65+ years | 65–84 years | 85+ years | χ2 P-valuea | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sample | N (%) | 39,178 (100%) | 30,366 (77.5%) | 8812 (22.5%) | |
Age | Mean (± SD) | 78.5 (±7.9) | 75.4 (±5.8) | 89.3 (±3.4) | |
Gender % (95%-CI) | Women | 54.6 (54.1–55.1) | 51.2 (50.6–51.8) | 66.3 (65.3–67.3) | < 0.001 |
Men | 45.4 (44.9–45.9) | 48.8 (48.2–49.4) | 33.7 (32.7–34.7) | ||
Marital status % (95%-CI) | Married | 44.1 (43.6–44.6) | 49.4 (48.8–49.9) | 25.9 (25.0–26.9) | < 0.001 |
Not married | 55.9 (55.4–56.4) | 50.6 (50.1–51.2) | 74.1 (73.1–75.0) | ||
Priority level % (95%-CI) | 1 (immediate) | 15.9 (15.5–16.3) | 16.5 (16.1–16.9) | 13.8 (13.1–14.5) | < 0.001 |
2 (< 15 min) | 28.0 (27.5–28.4) | 27.7 (27.2–28.2) | 28.9 (27.9–29.8) | ||
3 (< 45 min) | 23.4 (23.0–23.8) | 23.9 (23.4–24.3) | 21.9 (21.1–22.8) | ||
4 (< 90 min) | 11.9 (11.6–12.2) | 10.9 (10.5–11.2) | 15.5 (14.7–16.2) | ||
5 (< 120 min) | 20.8 (20.4–21.2) | 21.1 (20.6–21.5) | 20.0 (19.2–20.8) | ||
Triage categories (95%-CI) | Cardiovascular | 19.6 (19.3–20.0) | 19.9 (19.4–20.3) | 18.9 (18.1–19.7) | < 0.001 |
Trauma | 16.3 (16.0–16.7) | 15.0 (14.6–15.4) | 20.9 (20.1–21.8) | ||
Digestive | 10.8 (10.5–11.1) | 11.6 (11.2–11.9) | 8.2 (7.6–8.8) | ||
Respiratory | 12.7 (12.4–13.0) | 12.6 (12.2–12.9) | 13.1 (12.4–13.8) | ||
Neurological | 9.1 (8.8–9.4) | 9.4 (9.1–9.7) | 8.0 (7.4–8.5) | ||
Home care impossible | 5.5 (5.3–5.8) | 4.2 (4.0–4.4) | 10.1 (9.5–10.8) | ||
Failure to thrive | 4.1 (3.9–4.3) | 3.7 (3.5–4.0) | 5.4 (5.0–5.9) | ||
Other | 21.8 (21.4–22.2) | 23.7 (23.2–24.2) | 15.4 (14.6–16.1) | ||
Discharge disposition after ED (95%-CI) | Home | 37.1 (36.6–37.5) | 40.1 (39.5–40.6) | 26.6 (25.7–27.5) | < 0.001 |
Nursing home | 1.4 (1.3–1.5) | 0.85 (0.75–0.96) | 3.2 (2.9–3.6) | ||
Hospital admission | 60.9 (60.4–61.4) | 58.5 (58.0–59.1) | 69.1 (68.1–70.1) | ||
Death | 0.65 (0.58–0.74) | 0.53 (0.45–0.62) | 1.1 (0.89–1.3) |