Predictors of high-acuity outcomes among 10–17-year-olds utilizing pediatric emergency services in Taiwan: a sex-based comparison of male and female adolescents

Table 3 Sample characteristics and their bivariate associations with high-acuity outcomes among 10–17-year-old adolescents utilizing pediatric emergency services in Taiwan, by sex

Variable	Male					Female
	Total (N = 9,355)		High-acuity outcome^a (N = 1,338)			Total (N = 7,555)		High-acuity outcome^a (N = 1,170)
	n	Col %	n_HAO	Row %	P	n	Col %	n_HAO	Row %	P
Age Group (years)										*
10–12	3,807	40.7	529	13.9		2,815	37.3	401	14.2
13–15	3,471	37.1	478	13.8		2,728	36.1	429	15.7
16–17	2,077	22.2	331	15.9		2,012	26.6	340	16.9
Triage Level^b					*					*
Level 1	233	2.5	50	21.5		193	2.6	41	21.2
Level 2	686	7.3	124	18.1		531	7.0	98	18.5
Level 3	7,045	75.3	1,053	14.9		5,681	75.2	916	16.1
Level 4	1,364	14.6	111	8.1		1,135	15.0	114	10
Level 5	27	0.3	0	0		15	0.2	1	6.7
Time of the ED Visit					*					*
08:00–15:59	3,059	32.7	494	16.1		2,587	34.2	447	17.3
16:00–23:59	4,374	46.8	574	13.1		3,482	46.1	477	13.7
00:00–07:59	1,922	20.5	270	14.0		1,486	19.7	246	16.6
Number of Abnormal Vital Signs^c					*					*
0	2,710	29.0	314	11.6		2,574	34.1	303	25.9
1	3,370	36.0	494	14.7		2,498	33.1	426	36.4
2	2,467	26.4	416	16.9		1,865	24.7	335	28.6
≥3	808	8.6	114	14.1		618	8.2	106	9.1
Glasgow Coma Scale^d					*					*
15	9,034	96.6	1,261	14.0		7,339	97.1	1,102	15.0
13–14	246	2.6	39	15.9		162	2.1	35	21.6
9–12	63	0.7	29	46.0		53	0.7	32	60.4
3–8	12	0.1	9	75.0		1	0.0	1	100.0

^a The four high-acuity outcomes include: (1) intensive care unit (ICU) admission or in-ED death; (2) inpatient ward admission; (3) return to the ED within 72 h for the same presenting complaint; and (4) ED length of stay exceeding 6 h. Col % represents the proportion of cases within each category of the variable, calculated as (n for the category/Total N) × 100. The percentages are specific to each variable and sum to 100% within each variable because all cases are distributed across the defined categories. n_HAO represents the number of ED visits listed in that row that resulted in any high-acuity outcome. Row % indicates the percentage of ED visits listed in that row that resulted in any high-acuity outcome, calculated as (n_HAO/n) x 100
^b Level 1 indicates the most urgent condition that requires immediate treatment. Level 5 indicates the least urgent condition
^c Vital signs include: heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and respiratory rate
^d A neurological scale consisting of three tests: eye, verbal, and motor responses, with a score of 3 indicating the most severe condition
*P < 0.05

ISSN: 1471-227X