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Table 1 Demographic and clinical characteristics of the enrolled patients

From: Hospitals with and without neurosurgery: a comparative study evaluating the outcome of patients with traumatic brain injury

Variables NSH No NSH P valuea
All Matched (1:3)
N 6682 696 232  
Age 0.959
 Mean (SD) 55.0 (21.0) 64.5 (20.1) 64.6 (20.3)  
 Median (Q1–Q3) 57.0 (38.0–74.0) 71.0 (51.0–80.0) 73.0 (51.8–80.0)  
Sex (female)—N (%) 1775 (26.6) 213 (30.6) 71 (30.6) 1.000
Occupational status—N (%) 0.013
 Worker 1633 (28.6) 120 (20.5) 38 (21.2)  
 Retired 1594 (28.0) 265 (45.2) 102 (57.0)  
 Unemployed 247 (4.3) 16 (2.7) 6 (3.4)  
 Student 275 (4.8) 10 (1.7) 4 (2.2)  
 Disabled/Sheltered employment 104 (1.8) 11 (1.9) 3 (1.7)  
 Unknown 1849 (32.4) 164 (28.0) 26 (14.5)  
 Missingb 980 110 53  
Marital status—N (%) 0.055
 Unmarried/single 1204 (21.1) 79 (13.5) 21 (11.7)  
 Married 2033 (35.6) 225 (38.4) 88 (49.2)  
 Separated/divorced 172 (3.0) 16 (2.7) 8 (4.5)  
 Widowed 399 (7.0) 69 (11.8) 17 (9.5)  
 Unknown 1896 (33.2) 197 (33.6) 45 (25.1)  
 Missingb 978 110 53  
Education level—N (%) 0.015
 No schooling 117 (2.1) 13 (2.2) 4 (2.2)  
 Primary school/elementary school 1230 (21.6) 133 (22.7) 63 (35.2)  
 High school diploma 1043 (18.3) 81 (13.8) 19 (10.6)  
 University degree or higher 243 (4.3) 16 (2.7) 2 (1.1)  
 Unknown 3071 (53.8) 343 (58.5) 91 (50.8)  
 Missingb 978 110 53  
Comorbidities—N (%)
 Any comorbidityc 3506 (52.5) 458 (65.8) 154 (66.4) 0.873
 Antiplatelet therapy 517 (7.7) 63 (9.1) 20 (8.6) 0.842
 Arrhythmia 608 (9.1) 108 (15.5) 36 (15.5) 1.000
 Cerebrovascular disease 449 (6.7) 74 (10.6) 19 (8.2) 0.283
 COPD 262 (3.9) 37 (5.3) 14 (6.0) 0.678
 Dementia 180 (2.7) 14 (2.0) 7 (3.0) 0.372
 Drug-induced coagulopathy 370 (5.5) 67 (9.6) 20 (8.6) 0.649
 Diabetes Type II 706 (10.6) 81 (11.6) 26 (11.2) 0.859
 Hypertension 2083 (31.2) 316 (45.4) 102 (44.0) 0.703
 Myocardial infarction 358 (5.4) 49 (7.0) 25 (10.8) 0.069
Penetrating trauma—N (%) 210 (3.1) 16 (2.3) 4 (1.7) 0.602
Traffic accident—N (%) 3052 (45.7) 257 (36.9) 84 (36.2) 0.844
Trauma dynamic—N (%) 0.493
 High-energy impact 2833 (42.4) 232 (33.3) 68 (29.3)  
 Low-energy impact 2418 (36.2) 330 (47.4) 119 (51.3)  
 Other 1430 (21.4) 134 (19.3) 45 (19.4)  
 Missing 1 0 0  
Pre-treatment GCS—N (%) 0.382
 Mean (SD) 8.9 (4.4) 11.0 (4.3) 11.2 (4.3)  
 Median (Q1-Q3) 8 (5–13) 13 (7 -15) 13 (8–15)  
 3–8 3354 (50.2) 195 (28.0) 62 (26.7)  
 9–13 1735 (26.0) 211 (30.3) 60 (25.9)  
 14–15 1593 (23.8) 290 (41.7) 110 (47.4)  
Main lesion—N (%)
 Cerebral contusion/laceration 1715 (25.7) 125 (18.0) 40 (17.2) 0.804
 Extradural/epidural haematoma 581 (8.7) 42 (6.0) 10 (4.3) 0.323
 Traumatic subdural haematoma 2216 (33.2) 161 (23.1) 59 (25.4) 0.476
 Intraparenchymal bleeding 554 (8.3) 138 (19.8) 47 (20.3) 0.887
 Diffuse injury without oedema 422 (6.3) 19 (2.7) 5 (2.2) 0.633
 Diffuse injury with oedema 301 (4.5) 18 (2.6) 5 (2.2) 0.715
 Subarachnoid haemorrhage 755 (11.3) 171 (24.6) 60 (25.9) 0.693
 Skull fracture 138 (2.1) 22 (3.2) 6 (2.6) 0.658
Injuries other than TBId—N (%)
 Isolate TBI 3595 (53.8) 398 (57.2) 123 (53.0) 0.268
 Abdomen 652 (9.8) 35 (5.0) 10 (4.3) 0.659
 Chest 2089 (31.3) 193 (27.7) 73 (31.5) 0.276
 Pelvis, bones, joints and muscles 1458 (21.8) 154 (22.1) 42 (18.1) 0.194
 Major vessels 176 (2.6) 14 (2.0) 1 (0.4) 0.134
 Spine 1363 (20.4) 135 (19.4) 46 (19.8) 0.886
 Other 17 (0.3) 2 (0.3) 0 (0.0) 1.000
Time between injury and ICU adm. (hours) 0.085
 Mean (SD) 8.3 (10.2) 9.1 (12.0) 7.6 (9.3)  
 Median (Q1-Q3) 4.8 (2.9–8.5) 4.5 (2.7–9.0) 5.0 (2.8–7.4)  
 Missing 1232 119 17  
Pupils at ED arrival—N (%) 0.985
 Bilaterally reactive/miotic 4776 (71.5) 583 (83.8) 195 (84.1)  
 Unilaterally dilated/non-reactive 1044 (15.6) 54 (7.8) 19 (8.2)  
 Bilaterally dilated/non-reactive 637 (9.5) 36 (5.2) 11 (3.0)  
 Not available 225 (3.4) 23 (3.3) 7 (3.0)  
Hypotension—N (%) 990 (14.8) 57 (8.2) 19 (8.2) 1.000
Hypoxia—N (%) 1587 (23.8) 74 (10.6) 24 (10.3) 0.902
Haemorrhagic-hypovolemic shock on ICU admission—N (%) 702 (10.5) 31 (4.5) 10 (4.3) 0.927
Neurogenic shock on ICU admission—N (%) 523 (7.8) 27 (3.9) 10 (4.3) 0.771
SAPS II (worst 24 h from ICU admission) 0.877
 < 41 [probability: 0.00–0.25] 2085 (46.3) 330 (56.7) 120 (57.4)  
 41–51 [probability: 0.26–0.50] 925 (20.6) 89 (15.3) 31 (14.8)  
 52–63 [probability: 0.51–0.75] 808 (18.0) 97 (16.7) 38 (18.2)  
 > 63 [probability: 0.76–1.00] 682 (15.2) 66 (11.3) 20 (9.6)  
 SAPSII not assessable 2182 114 23  
Worst CT scan of first 48 h in ICU—N (%)  
Marshall scale 0.943
 Diffuse Injury I 730 (10.9) 159 (22.8) 55 (23.7)  
 Diffuse Injury II 2339 (35.0) 291 (41.8) 91 (39.2)  
 Diffuse Injury III 631 (9.4) 42 (6.0) 13 (5.6)  
 Diffuse Injury IV 229 (3.4) 34 (4.9) 11 (4.7)  
 Mass lesion (V or VI) 2753 (41.2) 170 (24.4) 62 (26.7)  
Midline shift > 5 mm 2150 (32.2) 139 (20.0) 51 (22.0) 0.511
Lesion volume > 25 ml 2217 (33.2) 148 (21.3) 54 (23.3) 0.520
Petechiae 2419 (36.2) 180 (25.9) 59 (25.4) 0.897
Cistern condition 0.622
 Normal 3046 (45.6) 339 (48.7) 105 (45.3)  
 Compressed or distorted 2541 (38.0) 182 (26.1) 67 (28.9)  
 Absent 1095 (16.4) 175 (25.1) 60 (25.9)  
  1. aP value comparing no-NSH and matched NSH patients
  2. bThe information is not available for patients enrolled in 2014
  3. cThe complete list of comorbidities is reported in the Additional file 1: Table S1
  4. dThe complete list of lesions considered in each body region is reported in the Additional file 1: Table S2
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Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine

ISSN: 1757-7241