Table 1 Characteristics of patients leaving prematurely or against medical advice and patients regularly discharged or admitted
|  | Patients who signed to leave against medical advice (N = 161) or left before complete ED care without signing (N = 120); total N = 281 | Patients who were discharged or admitted (N = 5059) | p value* |
|---|---|---|---|
Demographics | |||
 age, mean (SD; IQR) | 44.1 (19.2; 28–57) | 56.9 (21.2; 39–76) | < 0.001 |
  < 30, N (%) | 84 (29.9%) | 825 16.3%) | < 0.001 |
 30–50, N (%) | 94 (33.5%) | 1104 (21.8%) | < 0.001 |
 50–70 N (%) | 71 (25.3%) | 1456 (28.8%) | 0.205 |
  > 70, N (%) | 32 (11.4%) | 1674 (33.1%) | < 0.001 |
 sex, M, N (%) | 141 (50.2%) | 2442 (48.3%) | 0.535 |
 living in local area, N (%) | 174 (61.9%) | 2986 (59.0%) | 0.336 |
 living outside local area, N (%) | 93 (33.1%) | 1985 (39.2%) | 0.040 |
 other, N (%) | 14 (5.0%) | 88 (1.7%) | < 0.001 |
Time of ED presentation, N (%) | |||
 weekend | 73 (26.0%) | 1220 (24.1%) | 0.478 |
 0 h–6 h | 22 (7.8%) | 475 (9.4%) | 0.381 |
 6 h–12 h | 63 (22.4%) | 1425 (28.2%)) | 0.036 |
 12 h–18 h | 129 (45.9%) | 1981 (38.9%) | 0.024 |
 18 h–24 h | 67 (23.8%) | 1178 (23.3%) | 0.829 |
ED times in min, mean (SD; IQR) | |||
 door-to-doctor time | 43.0 (78.3; 8–36) | 38.7 (67.0; 6–40) | 0.32 |
 ED length of stay | 264.6 (311.0; 140–320) | 260.4 (173.6; 132–347) | 0.69 |
Mode of presentation, N (%) | |||
 Self-presenting | 140/236 (59.3%) | 2055/5055 (40.7%) | < 0.001 |
 Emergency medical service (EMS) | 75/236 (31.8%) | 2481/5055 (49.1%) | < 0.001 |
 EMS with emergency physician | 21/236 (8.9%) | 518/5055 (10.2%) | 0.503 |
Presenting symptom according to Royl, 2010, N (%) | |||
 Ataxia/movement disorder | 2/221 (0.9%) | 60 (1.2%) | 1.000 |
 Impaired consciousness | 7/221 (3.2%) | 238 (4.7%) | 0.288 |
 Seizure | 41/221 (18.6%) | 560 (11.1%) | 0.001 |
 Headache | 36/221 (16.3%) | 652 (12.9%) | 0.141 |
 Other pain | 8/221 (3.6%) | 139 (2.7%) | 0.440 |
 Motor deficit | 20/221 (9.0%) | 652 (12.9%) | 0.094 |
 Confusion/amnesia | 7/221 (3.2%) | 279 (5.5%) | 0.131 |
 Disturbed vision | 17/221 (7.7%) | 254 (5.0%) | 0.078 |
 Sensory deficit | 34/221 (15.4%) | 426 (8.4%) | < 0.001 |
 Impaired language/speech/ swallowing | 12/221 (5.4%) | 491 (9.7%) | 0.034 |
 Vertigo | 31/221 (14.0%) | 776 (15.3%) | 0.596 |
 Other neurological complaint | 1/221 (0.5%) | 282 (5.5%) | < 0.001 |
 Non-neurological complaint | 5/221 (2.3%) | 250 (4.9%) | 0.076 |