Table 1 Patient characteristics, overall and stratified by patient outcome. Values are expressed as numbers (n) and percentages (%), unless stated otherwise
From: How parents express their worry in calls to a medical helpline: a mixed methods study
Study population (n = 2857) | Group 1: Telephone consultation; 61.5% (n = 1756) | Group 2: Assessed at hospital, but not hospitalized ≥ 24 h; 36.6% (n = 1046) | Group 3: Hospitalized ≥ 24 h; 1.9% (n = 55) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Gender | ||||
Boys | 1.523 (53.5%) | 933 (53.1%) | 562 (53.7%) | 28 (50.9%) |
Age | ||||
Median (IQR) | 2.0 (1–5) | 2.0 (I1–5) | 2.0 (1–6) | 1.0 (0–7) |
0–2 years | 1501 (52.5%) | 901 (51.3%) | 566 (54.1%) | 34 (61.8%) |
3–5 years | 658 (23.0%) | 437 (24.9% | 216 (20.7%) | 5 (9.1%) |
6–11 years | 698 (24.4%) | 418 (23.8%) | 264 (25.2%) | 16 (29.1%) |
DOW | ||||
Median (IQR) | 3.0 (2–4) | 3.0 (2–3) | 3.0 (2–4) | 3.0 (3–4) |
1 | 297 (10.4%) | 218 (12.4%) | 77 (7.4%) | 2 (3.6%) |
2 | 634 (22.2%) | 407 (23.2%) | 220 (21.0%) | 7 (12.7%) |
3 | 1175 (41.1%) | 721 (41.1%) | 432 (41.3%) | 22 (40.0%) |
4 | 503 (17.6%) | 266 (15.2%) | 220 (21.0%) | 17 (30.9%) |
5 | 248 (8.7%) | 144 (8.2%) | 97 (9.3%) | 7 (12.7%) |
Aggregated DOW | ||||
Low (DOW 1 + 2) | 931 (33%) | 625 (36%) | 297 (28%) | 9 (16%) |
Medium (DOW 3) | 1175 (41%) | 721 (41%) | 432 (41%) | 22 (40%) |
High (DOW 4 + 5) | 751 (26%) | 410 (23%) | 317 (30%) | 24 (44%) |
MH1813 triage response | ||||
Telephone consultation | 1612 (56.4%) | 1488 (84.7%) | 111 (10.6%) | 13 (23.6%) |
Face-to-face consultation | 1245 (43.6%) | 268 (15.3%) | 935 (89.4%) | 42 (76.4%) |
Reason for calling | ||||
URTI including ear symptoms | 460 (22.1%) | 285 (22.0%) | 173 (23.3%) | 2 (4.6%) |
Fever/influenza | 399 (19.2%) | 257 (19.9%) | 134 (18.0%) | 8 (18.6%) |
Gastrointestinal symptoms | 268 (12.6%) | 169 (13.1%) | 88 (11.8%) | 11 (25.6%) |
Cardiopulmonary symptoms | 279 (13.4%) | 114 (8.8%) | 153 (20.6%) | 12 (27.9%) |
Counselling on medication or vaccination | 84 (4.0%) | 77 (6.0%) | 7 (0.9%) | – |
Skin symptoms | 162 (7.8%) | 119 (9.2%) | 42 (5.6%) | 1 (2.3%) |
Unspecified symptoms | 140 (6.7%) | 102 (7.9%) | 35 (4.7%) | 3 (7.0%) |
Eye symptoms | 156 (7.5%) | 104 (8.0%) | 51 (6.9%) | 1 (2.3%) |
Urogenital symptoms | 41 (2.0%) | 13 (1.0%) | 27 (3.6%) | 1 (2.3%) |
Mouth/teeth/nose symptoms | 33 (1.6%) | 23 (1.8%) | 9 (1.2%) | 1 (2.3%) |
Musculoskeletal symptoms | 20 (1.0%) | 11 (0.9%) | 9 (1.2%) | – |
Guidance/worry | 20 (1.0%) | 13 (1.0%) | 5 (0,7%) | 2 (4.6%) |
Central nervous system symptoms | 18 (0.9%) | 6 (0.5%) | 11 (1.5%) | 1 (2.3%) |
Missing | 777 (27.2%) | 463 (26.4%) | 302 (28.9%) | 12 (21.8%) |
Primary hospital diagnoses, ICD10-chapters | ||||
Respiratory tract diseases | 374 (34.0%) | n/a | 347 (33.2%) | 27 (49,1%) |
Symptoms and abnormal findings not classified elsewhere + Factors influencing health status and contact with health services | 189 (17.2%) | 179 (17.1%) | 10 (18.2%) | |
Infection, unspecified | 180 (16.4%) | 176 (16.8%) | 4 (7.3%) | |
Eyes and ears diseases | 158 (14.4%) | 156 (14.9%) | 2 (3.6%) | |
Injury or external cause of illness | 91 (8.3%) | 89 (8.5%) | 2 (3.6%) | |
Skin diseases | 37 (3.4%) | 36 (3.4%) | 1 (1.8%) | |
Gastrointestinal diseases | 34 (3.1%) | 28 (2.7%) | 6 (10.9%) | |
Urogenital diseases | 19 (1.7%) | 18 (1.7%) | 1 (1.8%) | |
Endocrine diseases | 5 (0.5%) | 4 (0.4%) | 1 (1.8%) | |
Musculoskeletal diseases | 4 (0.4%) | 4 (0.4%) | – | |
Hematopoietic diseases | 3 (0.3%) | 3 (0.3%) | – | |
Perinatal illness | 3 (0.3%) | 3 (0.3%) | – | |
Malformation and anomaly | 2 (0.2%) | 2 (0.2%) | – | |
Nervous system diseases | 2 (0.2%) | 1 (0.1%) | 1 (1.8%) | |