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Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients who died within 72 h of ED presentation

From: Patterns and predictors of early mortality among emergency department patients in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Characteristic

Sub categories

N (%)a

N (%)a

N (%)a

Total sample

Dead on arrival

Alive on arrival

N = 220

N = 34

N = 186

Baseline characteristics

 Age (years)

<30

66 (30.0)

15 (44.1)

51 (27.4)

30–50

64 (29.1)

12 (35.3)

52 (28.0)

>50

90 (40.9)

7 (20.6)

83 (44.6)

 Gender

Male

135 (61.9)

27 (79.4)

108 (58.7)

Female

83 (38.1)

7 (20.6)

76 (41.3)

 Cause of death

Congestive heart failure

26 (11.8)

4 (11.8)

22 (11.8)

Traumatic head injury

45 (20.5)

5 (14.7)

40 (21.5)

Other medical causes

26 (11.8)

3 (8.8)

23 (12.4)

Polytrauma/non-head trauma

21 (9.6)

4 (11.8)

17 (9.1)

Respiratory failure

28 (12.7)

0 (0)

28 (15.1)

Sepsis/infection

37 (16.8)

2 (5.9)

35 (18.8)

Stroke

15 (6.8)

1 (2.9)

14 (7.5)

Unknown

22 (10.0)

15 (44.1)

7 (3.8)

 Triage level

Red

73 (34.0)

0 (0)

72 (39.3)

Orange

89 (41.4)

0 (0)

89 (48.6)

Yellow

20 (9.3)

0 (0)

20 (10.9)

Green

2 (0.9)

0 (0)

2 (1.1)

Blue (dead on arrival)

31 (14.4)

34 (100.0)

0 (0)

 Method of referral

Referred from clinic or health post/centre

23 (11.2)

1 (3.5)

22 (12.4)

Referred from hospital (all)

114 (55.3)

11 (37.9)

103 (58.2)

Self referral

69 (33.5)

17 (58.6)

52 (29.4)

 Duration of symptoms

<4 h

53 (25.7)

17 (70.8)

36 (19.8)

4–24 h

56 (27.2)

4 (16.7)

52 (28.6)

>24–48 h

15 (7.3)

0 (0)

15 (8.2)

>48 h–1 week

27 (13.1)

1 (4.2)

26 (14.3)

>1 week

55 (26.7)

2 (8.3)

53 (29.1)

 Mode of transportation to ED

Ambulance

45 (21.5)

6 (19.4)

39 (21.9)

Car/truck

23 (11.0)

4 (12.9)

19 (10.7)

Taxi

130 (62.2)

20 (64.5)

110 (61.8)

Walk-in/carried

11 (5.0)

1 (3.2)

10 (5.6)

 # Prior ED visits in past 30 days

0

179 (83.3)

28 (87.4)

151 (82.5)

1

19 (8.8)

2 (6.3)

17 (9.3)

≥2

17 (7.9)

2 (6.3)

15 (8.2)

 Day of ED presentation

Weekday

149 (68.7)

24 (72.7)

125 (67.9)

Weekend

68 (31.3)

9 (27.3)

59 (32.1)

 Type of Payment

Free

35 (16.0)

3 (9.1)

32 (17.3)

Non-free (self-pay)

183 (83.9)

30 (90.9)

153 (82.7)

Timing and location of death

 Time of presentation to ED

Daytime

114 (52.5)

21 (61.7)

93 (50.8)

Evening

45 (20.7)

5 (14.7)

40 (21.9)

Overnight

58 (26.7)

8 (23.6)

50 (27.3)

 Time of death

Daytime

87 (40.1)

21 (61.8)

66 (36.1)

Evening

54 (24.9)

5 (14.7)

49 (26.8)

Overnight

76 (35.0)

8 (23.5)

68 (37.1)

 Location of death

In the ED

204 (94)

34 (100)

170 (92.9)

On the ward (any)

13 (6)

0 (0)

13 (7.1)

  1. aCell totals may vary slightly due to missing data