Table 1 Frequency distribution of EMS- and patient-related characteristics for calls categorized as “unclear problem” (callunclear) and “symptom-specific” categories (callspecific) given as number (N) and percent (%)
From: The difficult medical emergency call: A register-based study of predictors and outcomes
Variable | Callspecific | Callunclear | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
N = 64,026 (82%) | N = 14,014 (18%) | N = 78,040 | ||
EMS-related | ||||
Time of day | Daytime | 28,350 (44.3) | 7,023 (50.1) | 35,373 (45.3) |
Evening | 21,877 (34.2) | 4,505 (32.2) | 26,382 (33.8) | |
Night | 13,799 (21.6) | 2,486 (17.7) | 16,285 (20.9) | |
Time of week | Weekdays | 45,459 (71.0) | 10,317 (73.6) | 55,776 (71.5) |
Weekend | 18,567 (29.0) | 3,697 (26.4) | 22,264 (28.5) | |
Assessed emergency priority level by medical dispatcher | Level A | 30,181 (47.1) | 2,651 (18.9) | 32,832 (42.0) |
Level B | 29,604 (46.2) | 9,842 (70.2) | 39,446 (50.6) | |
Level C | 2,247 (3.5) | 211 (1.5) | 2,458 (3.2) | |
Level D | 98 (0.2) | 51 (0.4) | 149 (0.2) | |
Level E | 1,896 (3.0) | 1,259 (9.0) | 3,155 (4.0) | |
Response provided by medical dispatcherA | Red response | 30,808 (48.1) | 3,232 (23.1) | 34,040 (43.6) |
Orange response | 30,370 (47.4) | 9,150 (65.3) | 39,520 (50.6) | |
Yellow response | 446 (0.7) | 146 (1.0) | 592 (0.8) | |
Blue response | 2,402 (3.8) | 1,486 (10.6) | 3,888 (5.0) | |
Patient-related | ||||
Age | 18–30 | 10,045 (15.7) | 1,585 (11.3) | 11,630 (14.9) |
31–65 | 26,969 (42.1) | 5,366 (38.3) | 32,335 (41.4) | |
66–75 | 10,519 (16.4) | 2,735 (19.5) | 13,254 (17.0) | |
76+ | 16,493 (25.8) | 4,328 (30.9) | 20,821 (26.7) | |
Gender | Male | 31,732 (49.5) | 6,750 (48.3) | 38,482 (49.3) |
Female | 32,318 (50.5) | 7,240 (51.8) | 39,558 (50.7) | |
Civil status | Cohabiting | 26,625 (41.6) | 5,861 (41.8) | 32,486 (41.6) |
Single | 36,094 (56.4) | 7,907 (56.4) | 44,001 (56.4) | |
Missing | 1,307 (2.0) | 246 (1.8) | 1,553 (2.0) | |
Ethnicity | Danish origin | 54,271 (84.8) | 11,678 (83.3) | 65,949 (84.5) |
Non-Danish origin | 8,445 (13.2) | 2,088 (14.9) | 10,533 (13.5) | |
Missing value | 1,310 (2.1) | 248 (1.8) | 1,558 (2.0) | |
Educational level | Elementary school | 22,910 (35.8) | 4,807 (34.3) | 27,717 (35.5) |
Short education | 24,869 (38.8) | 5,634 (40.2) | 30,503 (39.1) | |
Medium/long education | 10,388 (16.2) | 2,253 (16.1) | 12,641 (16.2) | |
Missing value | 5,859 (9.2) | 1,320 (9.4) | 7,179 (9.2) | |
Income | 1 Low | 15,565 (24.3) | 3,382 (24.1) | 18,947 (24.3) |
2 | 16,250 (25.4) | 3,566 (25.5) | 19,816 (25.4) | |
3 | 11,733 (18.3) | 2,605 (18.6) | 14,338 (18.4) | |
4 | 9,379 (14.7) | 2,033 (14.5) | 11,412 (14.6) | |
5 High | 8,165 (12.8) | 1,898 (13.5) | 10,063 (12.9) | |
Missing value | 2,934 (4.6) | 530 (3.8) | 3,464 (4.4) | |
Employment status | EmployedB | 19,708 (30.8) | 3,640 (26.0) | 23,348 (29.9) |
UnemployedC | 10,796 (16.9) | 2,115 (15.1) | 12,911 (16.5) | |
Student | 1,873 (2.9) | 281 (2.0) | 2,154 (2.8) | |
RetiredD | 28,356 (44.3) | 7,389 (52.7) | 35,745 (45.8) | |
“Other” | 1,979 (3.1) | 343 (2.5) | 2,322 (3.0) | |
Missing value | 1,314 (2.1) | 246 (1.8) | 1,560 (2.0) | |
Comorbidity | None | 32,907 (51.4) | 6,800 (48.5) | 39,707 (50.9) |
Mild | 12,829 (20.0) | 2,777 (19.8) | 15,606 (20.0) | |
Severe | 18,290 (28.6) | 4,437 (31.7) | 22,727 (29.1) | |