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Table 2 Patient characteristics

From: Who breaches the four-hour emergency department wait time target? A retrospective analysis of 374,000 emergency department attendances between 2008 and 2013 at a type 1 emergency department in England

Characteristics

Percent (n = 374,459)

Age at ED arrival

31 (17, 56)a

 0–4

11.7

 5–17

13.3

 18–30

23.7

 31–64

32.0

 65–79

9.7

 80+

9.1

Time of ED Arrival

 08:00 to 19:59

67.0

 20:00 to 07:59

33.0

Source of Referral

 Self-referral

43.8

 Other sourcesb

56.2

Number of attendances in the previous financial year

1 (1, 2)a

Number of investigation types

1 (0, 2)a

Investigation categories

 No investigations orderedc

39.3

 Point of care only

3.4

 Laboratory tests and point of care

15.2

 Simple imaging, laboratory tests, point of care

34.9

 Complex imaging, simple imaging, laboratory tests, point of care

7.2

Median length of time spent in ED

2 h 59 m (1 h 55 m, 3 h 49 m)a,c

Patients exceeding the four-hour ED wait target

9.2

  1. ED emergency department
  2. aMedian and interquartile range
  3. bOther types of referral include: emergency services, general medical practitioner, dental practitioners, dental practices, community dental services, police, work, educational establishments, and local authority social services
  4. ch = hours, m = minutes