Table 1 Study group characteristics
From: “Analysis of readmissions to the emergency department among patients presenting with abdominal pain”
VARIABLES | ALL PATIENTS WITH ABDOMINAL PAIN | PATIENTS DISCHARGED HOME AFTER 1ST VISIT | PATIENTS REFERRED TO HOSPITAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
SURGICAL WARD | NON-INVASIVE TREATMENT WARD | |||
n (% of all) | 928 (100.00) | 698 (75.22) | 97 (10.45) | 133 (14.33) |
age - median (IQR) | 42 (26–62) | 38 (25–60) | 55 (34–70) | 58 (36–75) |
females - n (% of group) | 571 (61.53) | 434 (62.18) | 57 (58.76) | 80 (60.15) |
males - n (% of group) | 357 (38.47) | 264 (37.82) | 40 (41.24) | 53 (39.85) |
ED discharge diagnosis - n (% of group) | ||||
unidentified abdominal pain | 488 (52.59) | 441 (63.18) | 6 (6.19) | 41 (30.83) |
renal and urinary disease | 106 (11.42) | 103 (14.76) | 0 (0.00) | 3 (2.26) |
biliary tract related disease | 85 (9.16) | 36 (5.16) | 27 (27.84) | 22 (16.54) |
GI tract bleeding | 24 (2.59) | 6 (0.86) | 11 (11.34) | 7 (5.26) |
acute appendicitis | 22 (2.37) | 0 | 22 (22.68) | 0 (0.00) |
acute gastroenteritis | 20 (2.16) | 19 (2.72) | 0 | 1 (0.75) |
acute intestinal obstruction | 14 (1.51) | 0 | 14 (14.43) | 0 |
peptic ulcer disease | 9 (0.97) | 3 (0.43) | 6 (6.19) | 0 |
gynaecological disease | 6 (0.65) | 3 (0.43) | 0 | 3 (2.26) |
neoplasm | 6 (0.65) | 4 (0.57) | 0 | 2 (1.50) |
other | 148 (15.95) | 83 (11.89) | 11 (11.34) | 54 (40.60) |