Baseline characteristics in 982 patients ≥65 years of age admitted to acute care in a tertiary hospital from the ED in an 8-month period
| Parameter† | No prolonged ED stay (n=246)‡ | Prolonged ED stay (n=736)§ |
| Patient related | ||
| Demographic | ||
| Age in years (SD) | 76.8 (7.2) | 78.1 (8.0) |
| Gender (% female)* | 46.7 | 53.9 |
| Clinical condition | ||
| Acuity | ||
| (% Level I or II)*** | 45.1 | 21.5 |
| (% Level III)*** | 51.6 | 75.1 |
| Transported by emergency health services (%)* | 56.1 | 48.5 |
| Resuscitation during inpatient admission (%)** | 2.9 | 0.5 |
| Ventilator during inpatient admission (%)* | 3.7 | 1.4 |
| No of co-morbid conditions (SD) | 0.3 (0.1) | 0.3 (0.1) |
| System/environment | ||
| In-hospital related | ||
| Admit to surgical unit (%)** | 40.2 | 26.1 |
| Admit to ICU (%)*** | 22.4 | 6.7 |
| Hospital occupancy¶ (SD) | 92.4 (2.3) | 92.3 (2.1) |
| ED related | ||
| Average No of hours from ED arrival to admission orders (SD)*** | 3.5 (1.2) | 8.7 (4.4) |
| Average No of hours from admission orders to ED departure (SD)*** | 0.8 (0.7) | 6.1 (9.0) |
| Average No of hours from ED arrival to ED departure (SD)*** | 4.3 (1.1) | 14.8 (10.0) |
| Arrival density index†† (SD) | 7.7 (2.4) | 7.6 (2.3) |
| Overcrowding hazard scale‡‡ (SD) | 1.9 (0.3) | 1.9 (0.3) |
ED, emergency department; ICU, intensive care unit.
Significant at: *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.0001.
↵† Differences between the groups were compared using the χ2 test for categorical data, an unpaired t test for normally distributed continuous data and the Mann–Whitney U test for data that were not normally distributed.
↵‡ Length of stay (LOS) in ED ≤6 h, Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) level I–III or ≤4 for CTAS IV–V.
↵§ LOS in ED >6 h, CTAS level I–III or >4 for CTAS IV–V.
↵¶ Average of proportion of hospital beds used/available measured at midnight daily.
↵†† A measure of how busy the ED is at the time a patient arrived.
↵‡‡ Tests the combined effects of hospital and ED crowding.