From: A patient survey of out-of-hours care provided by Emergency Care Practitioners
Characteristic | Respondents | Non respondents | All | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n | % | n | % | n | % | ||
81 | 73.0 | 30 | 27.0 | 111 | 100 | ||
Age | Median | 82 years | 78 years | 80 years | |||
Aged less than 60 | 31 | 39.2 | 17 | 60.7 | 48 | 44.9 | |
Aged 60 and over | 48 | 60.8 | 11 | 39.3 | 59 | 55.1 | |
Not known | 2 | - | 2 | - | 4 | - | |
Gender | Female | 55 | 67.9 | 23 | 76.7 | 78 | 70.3 |
Male | 26 | 32.1 | 7 | 23.3 | 33 | 29.7 | |
Presenting complaint | Respiratory infection | 22 | 27.2 | 4 | 13.3 | 26 | 23.4 |
Urological | 14 | 17.3 | 6 | 20.0 | 20 | 18.0 | |
Medical condition1 | 10 | 12.3 | 10 | 33.3 | 20 | 18.0 | |
Back pain | 10 | 12.3 | 1 | 3.3 | 11 | 9.9 | |
Gastrointestinal | 6 | 7.4 | 2 | 6.7 | 8 | 7.2 | |
Pain (other than chest or back) | 5 | 6.2 | 2 | 6.7 | 7 | 6.3 | |
Minor injuries | 4 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3.6 | |
Fainted/dizziness | 2 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1.8 | |
Neurological/stroke | 2 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1.8 | |
Other | 6 | 7.4 | 5 | 16.7 | 11 | 9.9 | |
Disposal | Treated at home2 | 42 | 51.9 | 12 | 40.0 | 54 | 48.6 |
Treated at home and referred | 26 | 32.1 | 5 | 16.7 | 31 | 27.9 | |
Conveyed to the out-of-hours primary care centre | 3 | 3.7 | 2 | 6.7 | 5 | 4.5 | |
Conveyed to the hospital emergency department | 10 | 12.3 | 11 | 36.7 | 21 | 18.9 | |
Time spent with the patient (minutes) | Median (where known, n = 81) | 50 (11–148) | 47 (15 – 94) | 50 (11–148) |