Skip to main content

Table 1 Baseline characteristics for patients who died in the emergency department by year

From: Aggressiveness of care in the last days of life in the emergency department of a tertiary hospital in Korea

Variables

Total

n (%)

2018

n (%)

2019

n (%)

2020

n (%)

p-value

Disease-related deaths/Total deaths

46.2% (222/481)

44.6% (41/92)

43.6% (58/133)

48.0% (123/256)

0.667

Total deaths/No. of patients who visited the ED

0.33% (481/145,901)

0.17% (92/52,789)

0.26% (133/52,064)

0.62% (256/41,048)

 < 0.001

Age (years), median (range)

74 (36–100)

75 (47–94)

73 (38–100)

74 (36–94)

0.164

  < 75

118 (53.15)

21 (51.22)

31 (53.45)

66 (53.66)

0.908

  ≥ 75

104 (46.85)

20 (48.78)

27 (46.55)

57 (46.34)

 

Sex

 Male

140 (63.06)

27 (65.85)

37 (63.79)

76 (61.79)

0.889

 Female

82 (36.94)

14 (34.15)

21 (36.21)

47 (38.21)

 

Health insurance

 National Health Insurance

198 (89.19)

35 (85.37)

56 (96.55)

107 (86.99)

0.105

 Medicaid/None

24 (10.81)

6 (14.63)

2 (3.45)

16 (13.01)

 

Serious illnessa

 Yes

182 (81.98)

39 (95.12)

46 (79.31)

97 (78.86)

0.053

 No

40 (18.02)

2 (4.88)

12 (20.69)

26 (21.14)

 

Cancer

 Yes

141 (63.51)

23 (56.10)

39 (67.24)

79 (64.23)

0.510

 No

81 (36.49)

18 (43.90)

19 (32.76)

44 (35.77)

 

Chief complaintb

 Neurological

76 (34.23)

11 (26.83)

21 (36.21)

44 (35.77)

0.199

 Cardiopulmonary

74 (33.33)

17 (41.46)

13 (22.41)

44 (35.77)

 

 Gastrointestinal

36 (16.22)

6 (14.63)

15 (25.86)

15 (12.20)

 

 Constitutional/genitourinary/others

36 (16.22)

7 (17.07)

9 (15.52)

20 (16.26)

 

Place prior to ED visit

 Home

153 (68.92)

29 (70.73)

37 (63.79)

87 (70.73)

0.618

 Others

69 (31.08)

12 (29.27)

21 (36.21)

36 (29.27)

 

KTAS level

 1–2

194 (87.39)

35 (85.37)

45 (77.59)

114 (92.68)

0.015

 3–5

28 (12.61)

6 (14.63)

13 (22.41)

9 (7.32)

 

Length of stay (minutes), median (Q1-Q3)

733 (326–1479)

306 (119–810)

605 (336–1158)

981 (426–1892)

 < 0.001

  1. Abbreviations: ECOG Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, ED Emergency department, KTAS Korean Triage and Acuity Scale, No. Number
  2. a Patients were considered to have serious illness if they were diagnosed as any of the followings [38]: cancer with distant metastases, a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with oxygen demand or in need of hospitalization, end-stage renal disease on dialysis, congestive heart failure in need of hospitalization, liver cirrhosis in Child–Pugh class C, diabetes with severe complications (ischemic heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, and renal disease), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or dementia with evidence of illness or advanced disease
  3. b Only one priority cause of visits was selected as the chief complaint. Neurological symptoms: altered mentality; Cardiopulmonary: dyspnea, cough, sputum, chest pain; Gastrointestinal: abdominal pain, hematemesis, melena, hematochezia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea; genitourinary: dysuria, hematuria, frequency; Constitutional: fever, chills, general weakness, poor oral intake, hypotension; Others: in-hospital cardiac arrest (n = 1), cancer pain (n = 1), local wound discharge (n = 1), levin-tube insertion (n = 1)
Back to article page

BMC Palliative Care

ISSN: 1472-684X

Contact us