Baseline characteristics of the participants
| Participants | Down-triage | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (+) | (−) | |||
| Characteristics | n=37 219 | n=17 089 | n=20 130 | p Value* |
| Male gender, n (%) | 21 149 (56.8) | 9286 (54.3) | 11 863 (58.9) | <0.001 |
| Age in months, mean (SD) | 54.6 (46.3) | 52 (43.2) | 56.9 (48.7) | |
| Age in years, mean (SD) | 4.1 (3.9) | 3.9 (3.6) | 4.3 (4.1) | |
| Age group, n (%) | ||||
| 0–28 days old | 296 (0.8) | 82 (0.5) | 214 (1.1) | <0.001 |
| 1–12 months old | 5169 (13.9) | 1836 (10.7) | 3333 (16.6) | |
| 1–6 years old | 21 278 (57.2) | 10 925 (63.9) | 10 353 (51.4) | |
| 6–12 years old | 7836 (21.1) | 3283 (19.2) | 4553 (22.6) | |
| 12–16 years old | 2640 (7.1) | 963 (5.6) | 1677 (8.3) | |
| Arrival by ambulance, n (%) | 3247 (8.7) | 1253 (7.3) | 1994 (9.9) | <0.001 |
| Shift of arrival, n (%) | ||||
| Day (8:00–16:00) | 14 950 (40.2) | 6505 (38.1) | 8445 (42.0) | <0.001 |
| Evening (16:00–midnight) | 17 779 (47.8) | 8291 (48.5) | 9488 (47.1) | |
| Night (midnight–8:00) | 4490 (12.1) | 2293 (13.4) | 2197 (10.9) | |
| Final disposition, n (%) | ||||
| Discharge | 34 350 (92.3) | 15 971 (93.5) | 18 379 (91.3) | <0.001 |
| Admission to general wards | 2478 (6.7) | 1033 (6.0) | 1445 (7.2) | |
| ICU | 210 (0.6) | 25 (0.1) | 185 (0.9) | |
| Transfer | 90 (0.2) | 37 (0.2) | 53 (0.3) | |
| LWBS | 62 (0.2) | 19 (0.1) | 43 (0.2) | |
| Admissions to psychiatry wards | 29 (0.1) | 4 (0.0) | 25 (0.1) | |
*Comparison between down-triage (+) versus down-triage (−).
JTAS, Japanese Triage and Acuity Scale; LWBS, left without being seen; mod-JTAS, modified JTAS.