Table 2 Patient characteristics in different triage systems and urgency levels
Urgency level | Cohort | MTS | ESI | NTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N(%) | Total | 696518 (100) | 320406 (100) | 214267 (100) | 161845 (100) |
Not urgent | 184213 (26,4) | 93456 (29,2) | 27718 (12,9) | 63039 (39,0) | |
Urgent | 364895 (52,4) | 160377 (50,1) | 147289 (68,7) | 57229 (35,4) | |
Very urgent | 131749 (18,9) | 61747 (19,3) | 37117 (17,3) | 32885 (20,3) | |
Most urgent | 15661 (2,2) | 4826 (1,5) | 2143 (1,0) | 8692 (5,4) | |
Demographics | Total | 56,0 [30,0–73,0] | 56,0 [29–72] | 57,0 [32–73] | 56,0 [30–73] |
Age, Median [IQR] | Not urgent | 46,0 [21,0–68,0] | 46,0 [20–68] | 36,0 [19–60] | 50,0 [25–70] |
Urgent | 58,0 [33,0–74,0] | 59,0 [34–73] | 58,0 [35–74] | 57,0 [30–74] | |
Very urgent | 61,0 [39,0–74,0] | 60,0 [36–74] | 62,0 [42–75] | 62,0 [42–74] | |
Most urgent | 62,0 [45,0–74,0] | 63,0 [42–74] | 61,0 [42–74] | 62,0 [46–74] | |
Sex (male), N (%) | Total | 362257 (52,0) | 165703 (51,7) | 112502 (52,5) | 84052 (51,9) |
Not urgent | 97219 (52,8) | 48787 (52,2) | 16153 (58,3) | 32279 (51,2) | |
Urgent | 185168 (50,7) | 81492 (50,8) | 74558 (50,6) | 29118 (50,9) | |
Very urgent | 70628 (53,6) | 32586 (52,8) | 20451 (55,1) | 17591 (53,5) | |
Most urgent | 9242 (59,1) | 2838 (59,0) | 1340 (62,5) | 5064 (58,3) | |
Mode of transport N (%) | Total | 662976 (95,2) | 303242 (94,6) | 206416 (96,3) | 153318 (94,7) |
Missing | 33542 (4,8) | 17164 (5,4) | 7851 (3,7) | 8527 (5,3) | |
Ambulance | Total | 229309 (100) | 100449 (100) | 78980 (100) | 49880 (100) |
Not urgent | 24704 (10,8) | 12567 (12,5) | 2260 (2,9) | 9877 (19,8) | |
Urgent | 121949 (53,2) | 50838 (50,6) | 52465 (66,4) | 18646 (37,4) | |
Very urgent | 70984 (31,0) | 33068 (32,9) | 22610 (28,6) | 15306 (30,7) | |
Most urgent | 11672 (5,1) | 3976 (4,0) | 1645 (2,1) | 6051 (12,1) | |
Top ten presenting complaints N (%) | Total | 678840 (97,5) | 308186 (96,2) | 213390 (99,6) | 156904 (97,2) |
Missing | 17678 (2,5) | 12220 (3,8) | 877 (0,4) | 4581 (2,8) | |
1. Extremity complaints | Total | 142688 (100) | 62746 (100) | 46334 (100) | 33608 (100) |
Not urgent | 64457 (45,2) | 35639 (56,8) | 11293 (24,4) | 17525 (52,1) | |
Urgent | 69144 (48,5) | 24180 (38,5) | 32210 (69,5) | 12754 (37,9) | |
Very urgent | 8701 (6,1) | 2906 (4,6) | 2822 (6,1) | 2973 (8,8) | |
Most urgent | 386 (0,3) | 21 (0,0) | 9 (0,0) | 356 (1,1) | |
2. Feeling unwell | Total | 113132 (100) | 52053 (100) | 30788 (100) | 30291 (100) |
Not urgent | 19938 (17,6) | 10315 (19,8) | 834 (2,7) | 8789 (29,0) | |
Urgent | 59632 (52,7) | 29050 (55,8) | 19029 (61,8) | 11553 (38,1) | |
Very urgent | 30758 (27,2) | 11918 (22,9) | 10662 (34,6) | 8178 (27,0) | |
Most urgent | 2804 (2,5) | 770 (1,5) | 263 (0,9) | 1771 (5,8) | |
3. Abdominal pain | Total | 72587 (100) | 33297 (100) | 19742 (100) | 19548 (100) |
Not urgent | 16220 (22,3) | 6610 (19,9) | 469 (2,4) | 9141 (46,8) | |
Urgent | 45096 (62,1) | 21689 (65,1) | 16220 (82,2) | 7187 (36,8) | |
Very urgent | 10908 (15,0) | 4872 (14,6) | 3034 (15,4) | 3002 (15,4) | |
Most urgent | 363 (0,5) | 126 (0,4) | 19 (0,1) | 218 (1,0) | |
4. Dyspnea | Total | 61926 (100) | 29812 (100) | 17011 (100) | 15103 (100) |
Not urgent | 9000 (14,5) | 5597 (18,8) | 176 (1,0) | 3227 (21,4) | |
Urgent | 30905 (49,9) | 14514 (48,7) | 10398 (61,1) | 5993 (39,7) | |
Very urgent | 20141 (32,5) | 9060 (30,4) | 6253 (36,8) | 4828 (32,0) | |
Most urgent | 1880 (3,0) | 641 (2,2) | 184 (1,1) | 1055 (7,0) | |
5. Chest pain | Total | 53044 (100) | 21252 (100) | 22094 (100) | 9698 (100) |
Not urgent | 3598 (6,8) | 2170 (10,2) | 191 (0,9) | 1237 (12,8) | |
Urgent | 34804 (65,6) | 11334 (53,3) | 20242 (91,6) | 3228 (33,3) | |
Very urgent | 12615 (23,8) | 7334 (34,5) | 1620 (7,3) | 3661 (37,8) | |
Most urgent | 2027 (3,8) | 414 (1,9) | 41 (0,2) | 1572 (16,2) | |
6. Trauma (major) | Total | 33534 (100) | 14771 (100) | 12379 (100) | 6384 (100) |
Not urgent | 5577 (16,6) | 2020 (13,7) | 1284 (10,4) | 2273 (35,6) | |
Urgent | 15563 (46,4) | 6215 (42,1) | 6891 (55,7) | 2457 (38,5) | |
Very urgent | 10010 (29,9) | 5683 (38,5) | 3396 (27,4) | 940 (14,7) | |
Most urgent | 2375 (7,1) | 853 (5,8) | 808 (6,5) | 714 (11,2) | |
7. Wounds | Total | 27390 (100) | 13028 (100) | 5563 (100) | 8799 (100) |
Not urgent | 17461 (63,7) | 8236 (63,2) | 3117 (56,0) | 6108 (69,4) | |
Urgent | 8272 (30,2) | 4311 (33,1) | 2245 (40,4) | 1716 (19,5) | |
Very urgent | 1573 (5,7) | 453 (3,5) | 197 (3,5) | 923 (10,5) | |
Most urgent | 84 (0,3) | 28 (0,2) | 4 (0,1) | 52 (0,6) | |
8. Urinary problems | Total | 16453 (100) | 6407 (100) | 5801 (100) | 4245 (100) |
Not urgent | 5471 (33,3) | 1553 (24,2) | 1398 (24,1) | 2520 (59,4) | |
Urgent | 9026 (54,9) | 4302 (67,1) | 3352 (57,8) | 1372 (32,3) | |
Very urgent | 1951 (11,9) | 549 (8,6) | 1051 (18,1) | 351 (8,3) | |
Most urgent | 5 (0,0) | 3 (0,0) | 0 (0,0) | 2 (0,0) | |
9. Falls | Total | 15503 (100) | 10009 (100) | 5494 (100) | 0 (0,0) |
Not urgent | 4751 (30,6) | 4260 (42,6) | 491 (8,9) | 0 (0,0) | |
Urgent | 8967 (57,8) | 4887 (48,8) | 4080 (74,3) | 0 (0,0) | |
Very urgent | 1751 (11,3) | 852 (8,5) | 899 (16,4) | 0 (0,0) | |
Most urgent | 34 (0,2) | 10 (0,1) | 24 (0,4) | 0 (0,0) | |
10. Headache | Total | 15144 (100) | 9950 (100) | 2892 (100) | 2302 (100) |
Not urgent | 2218 (14,6) | 1075 (10,8) | 192 (6,6) | 951 (41,3) | |
Urgent | 7820 (51,6) | 5123 (51,5) | 2015 (69,7) | 682 (29,6) | |
Very urgent | 4642 (30,7) | 3558 (35,8) | 676 (23,4) | 408 (17,7) | |
Most urgent | 464 (3,1) | 194 (1,9) | 9 (0,3) | 261 (11,3) |