Table 1 Characteristics of all OOH-PC telephone contacts and frequency of contacts assessed as medically inappropriate
All OOH-PC contacts | Contacts assessed by triage GP as medically inappropriate | ||
|---|---|---|---|
N (%) | n (%) | n/100 contacts (95% CI) | |
All contacts | 5333 (100) | 1266 (100) | 23.7 (22.6–24.9) |
Level of care | |||
Telephone consultation only | 2884 (54.1) | 993 (78.4) | 34.4 (32.7–36.2) |
Triaged to face-to-face contact in OOH-PC | 2188 (41.0) | 258 (20.4) | 11.8 (10.5–13.2) |
Triaged to ED or hospital admission | 261 (4.9) | 15 (1.2) | 5.7 (3.3–9.3) |
Patient characteristics | |||
Sex | |||
Male | 2336 (43.8) | 539 (42.6) | 23.1 (21.4–24.8) |
Female | 2997 (56.2) | 727 (57.4) | 24.3 (22.7–25.8) |
Age groups (years) | |||
18–30 | 1410 (26.4) | 396 (31.3) | 28.1 (25.8–30.5) |
31–40 | 1010 (18.9) | 251 (19.8) | 24.9 (22.2–27.6) |
41–60 | 1368 (25.7) | 350 (27.6) | 25.6 (23.3–28.0) |
61–75 | 786 (14.7) | 168 (13.3) | 21.4 (18.6–24.4) |
> 75 | 759 (14.2) | 101 (8.0) | 13.3 (11.0–15.9) |
Symptom characteristics (medical perspective) | |||
Top 10 RFE for medically assessed inappropriate contactsa | |||
1. Request for medication (-50)b | 334 (6.3) | 181 (14.3) | 54.2 (48.7–59.6) |
2. Fever (A03) | 440 (8.3) | 75 (5.9) | 17.0 (13.6–20.9) |
3. Cough (R05) | 257 (4.8) | 71 (5.6) | 27.6 (22.3–33.5) |
4. Abdominal pain/cramps general (D01) | 302 (5.7) | 58 (4.6) | 19.2 (14.9–24.1) |
5. Throat symptom/complaints (R21) | 193 (3.6) | 47 (3.7) | 24.4 (18.5–31.0) |
6. Headache (N01) | 189 (3.5) | 45 (3.6) | 23.8 (17.9–30.5) |
7. Back symptom/complaint (L02) | 137 (2.6) | 37 (2.9) | 27.0 (19.8–35.2) |
8. Vertigo/dizziness (N17) | 145 (2.7) | 35 (2.8) | 24.1 (17.4–31.9) |
9. Nausea (D09) | 155 (2.9) | 33 (2.6) | 21.3 (15.1–28.6) |
10. Ear pain (H01) | 100 (1.9) | 33 (2.6) | 33.0 (23.9–43.1) |
Other RFE(s) (includes 276 different RFEs) | 3532 (66.2) | 754 (59.6) | 21.3 (20.0–22.7) |
Reason for contact | |||
New episode (including symptoms of long duration) | 4120 (77.3) | 860 (67.9) | 20.9 (19.6–22.1) |
Exacerbation of chronic disease | 868 (16.3) | 246 (19.4) | 28.3 (25.4–31.5) |
Other | 345 (6.5) | 160 (12.6) | 46.4 (41.0–51.8) |
Duration of symptoms | |||
< 5 h | 1712 (32.1) | 215 (17.0) | 12.6 (11.0–14.2) |
5–12 h | 1158 (21.7) | 171 (13.5) | 14.8 (12.8–16.9) |
12–24 h | 782 (14.7) | 170 (13.4) | 19.3 (16.7–22.0) |
> 24 h | 1251 (23.5) | 525 (41.5) | 42.0 (39.2–44.8) |
Don’t know | 223 (4.2) | 75 (5.9) | 33.6 (27.5–40.2) |
Not relevant | 207 (3.9) | 110 (8.7) | 53.1 (46.1–60.1) |
GP-assessed severity | |||
Potentially severe | 1646 (30.9) | 113 (8.9) | 6.9 (5.7–8.2) |
Not severe, but the patient is ill | 2777 (52.1) | 747 (59.0) | 26.9 (25.3–28.5) |
Patient is not ill | 635 (11.9) | 331 (26.1) | 52.1 (48.2–56.1) |
Don’t know | 275 (5.2) | 75 (5.9) | 27.3 (22.1–32.9) |
Time of contact (health service perspective) | |||
Weekday vs. weekend/public holiday | |||
Weekday | 2829 (53.0) | 829 (65.5) | 29.3 (27.6–31.0) |
Weekend/public holiday | 2504 (47.0) | 437 (34.5) | 17.5 (15.0–19.0) |
Time in relation to own GP’s regular office hours | |||
< 3 h after office hours | 720 (13.5) | 269 (21.3) | 37.4 (33.8–41.0) |
≥ 3 h after/before office hours | 4193 (78.6) | 852 (67.3) | 20.3 (19.1–21.6) |
< 3 h before office hours | 420 (7.9) | 145 (11.5) | 34.5 (30.0–39.3) |