Health service utilisation during the last year of life: a prospective, longitudinal study of the pathways of patients with chronic kidney disease stages 3-5

Table 4 Emergency department Presentations (EDP) during study period^a

Variables of Interest	N = 19 All 44 EDP # EDP (% All EDP)	n = 9 Conservative 13 EDP # EDP (% Group’s EDP)	n = 10 Dialysis 31 EDP # EDP (% Group’ EDP)
Hospital
1	26 (59)	2 (15)	24 (77)
2	17 (39)	11 (85)	6 (19)
3	1 (2)	0 (0)	1 (3)
Main modes of arrival
Ambulance	39 (89)	10 (77)	29 (94)
Walk in	4 (9)	3 (23)	1 (3)
After-hours presentations^b	26 (61)	7 (16)	19 (43)
Triage category
Category 1	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)
Category 2	17 (39)	1 (8)	16 (52)
Category 3	23 (52)	10 (77)	13 (42)
Category 4	3 (7)	2 (15)	1 (3)
Category 5	1 (2)	0 (0)	1 (3)
Departure status
Admitted	32 (73)	9 (69)	23 (74)
Transfer to other hospital	4 (9)	1 (8)	3 (10)
Home	4^c (9)	3 (23)	1² (3)
Dialysis clinic	4 (9)	N/A	4 (13)
Length of stay in ED (hours)
Median (range)	6.4 (1.8 - 24.8)	5 (3.1 - 13.1)	1.5 (1.8 - 24.8)
Number of EDP per patient
Median (range)	1 (0-12)	1 (0-4)	2 (0-12)
	n (% All Patients)	n (% Group)	n (% Group)
0	4 (21)	2 (22)	2 (20)
1-2	8 (42)	5 (56)	3 (30)
3-5	6 (32)	2 (22)	4 (40)
6 +	1 (5)	0 (0)	1 (10)

Note: Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding
EDP Emergency department presentation/s
^aAs per EDIS data
^bAfter-hours defined as between the hours of 5 pm and 7 am on week days plus all weekend days and public holidays
^cIncludes one patient who declined admission

ISSN: 1472-684X