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Table 1 Sample description

From: Psychological distress in medical patients 30 days following an emergency department admission: results from a prospective, observational study

N = 1575

n (%)

 Demographic variables

  Age, median (IQR)

60 (56–78)

 Gender

  Female

647 (41.2 %)

  Male

924 (58.8 %)

 Marital status

  Divorced/Separated

171 (11.1 %)

  Single

181 (11.8 %)

  Married

953 (62.0 %)

  Widowed

231 (15.0 %)

 Health insurancea

  Basic

1190 (77.7 %)

  Half private

230 (15.0 %)

  Private

111 (7.3 %)

Initial clinical presentation

 Main initial diagnosis

  Infectious disease

233 (15.8 %)

  Cancer

85 (5.8 %)

  Immune disorder

25 (1.7 %)

  Metabolic disorder

29 (2.0 %)

  Psychiatric disorder (incl. intoxication)

35 (2.4 %)

  Neurological disorder

343 (23.3 %)

  Cardiovascular disease

385 (26.1 %)

  Pulmonary disease

69 (4.7 %)

  Digestive tract disease

135 (9.2 %)

  Musculoskeletal disorder

74 (5.0 %)

  Miscellaneous

60 (4.1 %)

 Comorbidity

  Hypertension

181 (14.3 %)

  Chronic heart failure

27 (2.1 %)

  Coronary heart disease

103 (8.1 %)

  Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

32 (2.5 %)

  Dementia

21 (1.7 %)

  Diabetes

125 (9.9 %)

  Stroke

176 (13.9 %)

  Psychiatric disorder

140 (8.9 %)

  Toxic

96 (7.6 %)

  Cancer

178 (14.1 %)

  Renal failure

327 (25.8 %)

 Triage priority

  Urgent

571 (70.1 %)

  Non-urgent

244 (29.9 %)

Number of acute medical problems, median (IQR)

2 (1–4)

Course of illness

 Rehospitalisation

116 (7.4 %)

 Readmission ED

61 (3.9 %)

 Unplanned GP visit

54 (3.4 %)

 Intensive Care Unit

95 (6.0 %)

Location after discharge

  Home

1239 (81.0 %)

  Post-care institution (e.g. nursing home)

291 (19.0 %)

Length of hospital stay (days), median (IQR)

5 (3–8)

Outcome variables

 Psychological distress, median (IQR)

0 (0–2)

  No distress

978 (62.1 %)

  Distress

597 (37.9 %)

 Subjective health state, median (IQR)

80 (60–90)

  1. ED Emergency department, GP General practitioner
  2. aIn Switzerland, the healthcare system is a combination of public, subsided private and totally private systems. Every Swiss resident is obliged to have basic health and accident insurance. Many people top up the basic cover with supplementary private health insurance