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Table 2 Emergency Care Visit Characteristicsa

From: First Nations emergency care in Alberta: descriptive results of a retrospective cohort study

Variable

FN n = 1,099,424

Non-FN n = 10,586,863

Number of unique patients

145,508

4.8

2,878,983

95.2

ED visits per patient (over study period)

 Median [IQR]

4

[2, 9]

2

[1, 4]

Sex, n %b

 Female

596,248

54.2

5,384,233

50.9

 Male

503,173

45.8

5,202,606

49.1

Agec

 Mean (SD)

31.4

(20.2)

38.4

(24.3)

 Median [IQR]

30

[17.0 46.0]

36

[20.0 57.0]

 Missing, n %

6

0.0

35

0.0

Visit Day, n %

 Monday-Friday

791,898

72.0

7,629,544

72.1

 Saturday-Sunday

307,526

28.0

2,957,319

27.9

Visit Time, n %

 8:01–16:00

488,736

44.5

5,320,816

50.3

 16:01–00:00

479,531

43.6

4,029,075

38.1

 00:01–08:00

113,157

11.9

1,236,972

11.7

Ambulance arrival, n (%)

 Arrive by Ambulance – Air

1325

0.1

5738

0.1

 Arrive by Ambulance – Ground

168,553

15.3

1,056,100

10.0

 Arrive by Ambulance – Combined

3586

0.3

4446

0.0

 Not Admitted by Ambulance

925,960

84.2

9,520,579

89.9

Triage level, n (%)

 CTAS 1 – Resuscitation

5284

0.5

45,625

0.4

 CTAS 2- Emergent

86,155

7.8

1,208,333

11.4

 CTAS 3 – Urgent

306,481

27.9

3,649,685

34.5

 CTAS 4 – Less Urgent

446,945

40.7

4,031,673

38.1

 CTAS 5 – Non-Urgent

201,399

18.3

1304,155

12.3

 No CTAS Assigned

53,160

4.8

347,392

3.3

Charlson Comorbidity Index Score n (%)

 0

766,450

69.7

7,914,320

74.8

 1

190,737

17.3

1,425,386

13.5

 2

61,119

5.6

524,217

5.0

 3

29,075

2.6

270,587

2.6

 4

16,946

1.5

152,535

1.4

 5

9363

0.9

84,064

0.8

 6

8310

0.8

55,799

0.5

 7 or higher

17,424

1.6

159,955

1.5

Episode Disease Category Groups (top 10 by FN count) n %

 Infection

203,045

18.5

1,652,620

15.6

 Trauma and Injury

186,562

17.0

2,053,672

19.4

 Unspecific Signs, Symptoms, and Findings

125,594

11.4

1,113,140

10.5

 Gastrointestinal Conditions

97,940

8.9

1,111,655

10.5

 Respiratory Conditions

56,044

5.1

491,546

4.6

 Cancer

49,551

4.5

454,915

4.3

 Substance Misuse/Addictions

43,895

4.0

97,682

0.9

 Breast, Obstetrics and Gynecology

38,857

3.5

299,619

2.8

 Musculoskeletal and Arthritis Conditions

34,030

3.1

399,884

3.8

 Mental Health

31,938

2.9

245,230

2.3

Disposition n %

 Discharged

934,194

85.0

9,167,120

86.6

 Admitted

70,295

6.4

833,609

7.9

 Transferred

20,249

1.8

191,180

1.8

 Left Without Being Seen

48,690

4.4

290,468

2.7

 Left Against Medical Advice

25,540

2.3

97,877

0.9

 Deceased

456

0.0

6609

0.1

  1. FN First Nations, non-FN non-First Nations, ED Emergency Department, IQR interquartile range, SD standard deviation, CTAS Canadian Triage Acuity Score
  2. aAll difference between FN and non-FN are significant at the p = < 0.001 level with one exception. Visit day is not significantly different (p = 0.40)
  3. b< 30 additional visits by FN and non-FN patients had the sex of the patient recorded as “Other.” The low number may be due to inconsistent use of this category rather than a reflection of the population
  4. cPatient age in years as calculated at admission. Ages> 110 were recoded as missing