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Table 1 Sociodemographic characteristics of study participants across BDBP hospital sites (n = 306)

From: The “better data, better planning” census: a cross-sectional, multi-centre study investigating the factors influencing patient attendance at the emergency department in Ireland

Category

Variable

TOTAL n = 306

MRHT (Pre-pandemic) n = 41

UHL (Containment) n = 57

SVUH (Level 2) n = 77

SJUH (Level 5) n = 67

UHK (Level 3) n = 64

P value

Gender

Female

50%

59%

42%

53%

48%

50%

0.545

Male

50%

42%

58%

47%

52%

50%

Age

Median, IQR

52, 35–69

61, 49–74

52, 32–67

55, 37–72

47, 30–69

45, 34–65

0.05

Range

18–100

24–91

18–91

18–92

19–88

19–100

Age Category

18-39y

34%

20%

37%

29%

42%

39%

0.061

40-64y

35%

37%

37%

36%

31%

36%

65y + 

31%

44%

26%

35%

27%

25%

Civil Status

Partner/Married

60%

64%

55%

68%

52%

58%

0.216

Separated/Divorced

7%

5%

7%

3%

13%

6%

Widowed

8%

13%

4%

9%

10%

6%

Single

25%

18%

34%

20%

24%

30%

Residential Status

Partner

51%

64%

46%

58%

46%

42%

0.372

Family

25%

21%

25%

22%

30%

25%

Lives Alone

17%

13%

16%

12%

19%

25%

Other e.g. co-share

7%

1%

13%

8%

5%

8%

Principal Status

Employee

39%

30%

42%

40%

40%

41%

0.197

Self-employed

8%

5%

7%

12%

9%

6%

 

Family Carer

8%

18%

9%

4%

3%

11%

Retired

31%

43%

25%

36%

27%

30%

Unemployed

9%

3%

12%

4%

16%

8%

Student

5%

3%

5%

5%

5%

5%

Education

No formal education

2%

0%

2%

1%

0%

5%

0.121

Primary

,11%

15%

13%

12%

9%

8%

Secondary

44%

53%

48%

32%

50%

41%

Technical/Vocational

16%

23%

13%

15%

14%

19%

Third Level

28%

10%

25%

40%

27%

28%

Socioeconomic Status

Affluent

16%

0%

0%

43%

17%

0%

0.001

Above Average

34%

29%

45%

39%

26%

27%

Below Average

41%

72%

32%

18%

35%

73%

Disadvantaged

9%

0%

21%

0%

22%

0%

Very Disadvantaged

1%

0%

2%

0%

0%

0%

Healthcare Coverage

Public—No Cover

2%

0%

0%

3%

4%

0%

0.05

Public—Medical Card

56%

56%

61%

36%

61%

67%

Private Insurance

43%

44%

39%

61%

35%

33%

Distance to GP

Median (IQR)

3, 1–7

5, 2–10

3, 1–7

2, 1–6

2, 1–5

5, 3–7

0.01

Range

0–100

0–40

1–30

1–100

1–20

1–42

 < 5 km

58%

46%

61%

68%

66%

42%

 < 10 km

25%

27%

18%

17%

21%

43%

 < 15 km

10%

20%

14%

4%

8%

7%

 ≥ 15 km

8%

7%

7%

11%

5%

8%

Distance to ED

Median (IQR)

15, 5–30

26, 11–40

21, 5–31

10, 5–30

7, 3–15

25,16–32

0.001

Range

1–160

2–64

1–70

1–160

1–70

1–70

 < 10 km

38%

15%

33%

44%

64%

21%

 < 25 km

26%

32%

21%

29%

27%

24%

 < 50 km

27%

44%

35%

12%

5%

52%

 ≥ 50 km

9%

10%

11%

16%

5%

3%

Mode of Transport to ED

Ambulance

19%

5%

21%

25%

17%

21%

0.001

Private Car

67%

93%

65%

66%

48%

71%

Public Transport

11%

2%

9%

7%

32%

3%

Walk

3%

0%

5%

3%

3%

5%

  1. aInterquartile Range (IQR) 25th- 75th percentile. P-value from Chi2-tests for categorical variables and from Kruskal–Wallis test for continuous variables