Table 1 Baseline characteristics, prehospital triage and direct referral of patients with TBI stratified by the mode of entrance into the health care system: General practitioner or other health care professional (GP/HCP), 112-call by layman (112-call) or unreferred, N = 5,257

Sex, male, n (%)

1,788 (52.3)

814 (56.9)

242 (59.0)

0.008*

Age, median years [IQR]

44 [18–71]

50 [24–68]

28 [20–52]

< 0.001*

Charlson Comorbidity Index, n (%)

 No

1,691 (49.9)

640 (44.8)

270 (65.9)

< 0.001*

 Low

582 (17.0)

339 (23.7)

68 (16.7)

 Medium

580 (17.0)

272 19.0)

38 (9.3)

 High

564 (16.5)

179 (12.5)

34 (8.3)

Antiplatelet/-coagulant treatment, n (%)

 Acetylsalicylic acid

327 (9.6)

152 (10.6)

26 (6.3)

 ADP-receptor antagonist

146 (4.3)

48 (3.4)

3 (0.73)

 Vitamin K antagonist

167 (4.9)

45 (3.2)

9 (2.2)

 NOAC

158 (4.6)

68 (4.8)

16 (3.9)

 Other

31 (0.9)

6 (0.4)

2 (0.49)

Prehospital triage and dispatch, n (%)

Ambulance, yes

1,665 (48.7)

1,299 (90.8)

0 (0.0%)

Level of emergency

 A

533 (15.6)

720 (50.3)

-

< 0.001*

 B

843 (24.7)

583 (40.7)

-

 C

141 (4.1)

2 (0.1)

-

 D

121 (3.5)

0 (0.0)

-

 E

5 (0.2)

3 (0.2)

-

 NA

1,774 (51.9)

122 (8.5)

Second-tier resources, yes

 Rapid response vehicle (Physician)

334 (9.8)

656 (39.5)

-

< 0.001*

 Rapid response vehicle (Nurse)

36 (1.1)

31 (2.2)

-

 Helicopter

26 (0.8)

48 (3.4)

-

Type of TBI, n (%)

 Concussion

2,657 (77.7)

1,064 (74.4)

356 (86.8)

 Intracranial lesion

760 (22.3)

366 (25.6)

54 (13.2)

Direct referral to the specialised centre, n (%)

1,248 (36.5)

951 (66.5)

296 (72.2)

< 0.001*