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Table 2 Characteristics of 1,574 patients presenting to the emergency department

From: Evaluating adverse drug event reporting in administrative data from emergency departments: a validation study

Characteristic

All patients (n = 1574)

With chief complaint related ADE

With incidentally found ADE only

Without ADEs

  

(n = 158)

(n = 63)

(n = 1,353)

Age, yrs, mean (SD)

51.4 (20.3)

50.8 (20.8)

63.5 (19.7)

50.9 (20.1)

Female

805 (51.1%)

76 (48.1%)

26 (41.3%)

703 (52.0%)

Arrived from, no. (%)

  Home

1404 (89.2%)

131 (82.9%)

56 (88.9%)

1217 (89.9%)

  Homeless/Shelter

64 (4.1%)

14 (8.9%)

2 (3.2%)

48 (3.5%)

  Nursing home

65 (4.1%)

9 (5.7%)

3 (4.8%)

53 (3.9%)

  Other

39 (2.5%)

4 (2.5%)

2 (3.2%)

33 (2.4%)

Canadian triage acuity score, no. (%)

  1

6 (0.4%)

2 (1.3%)

0 (0.0%)

4 (0.3%)

  2

225 (14.3%)

20 (12.7%)

10 (15.9%)

195 (14.4%)

  3

693 (44.0%)

77 (48.7%)

36 (57.1%)

580 (42.9%)

  4

579 (36.8%)

50 (31.6%)

14 (22.2%)

515 (38.1%)

  5

71 (4.5%)

9 (5.7%)

3 (4.8%)

59 (4.4%)

Most common chief complaints, no. (%)

  Abdominal pain

157 (10.0%)

4 (2.5%)

9 (14.3%)

144 (10.6%)

  Chest pain

115 (7.3%)

4 (2.5%)

4 (6.4%)

107 (7.9%)

  Shortness of breath

96 (6.1%)

14 (8.9%)

5 (7.9%)

77 (5.7%)

  Lower extremity pain

79 (5.0%)

4 (2.5%)

2 (3.2%)

73 (5.4%)

  Back pain

64 (4.1%)

4 (2.5%)

0 (0.0%)

60 (4.4%)

No. comorbid conditions, mean (SD)

2.1 (2.0)

2.7 (2.2)

3.3 (1.8)

1.9 (2.0)

Most prevalent comorbid conditions, no. (%)

  Hypertension

382 (24.3%)

43 (27.2%)

36 (57.1%)

303 (22.4%)

  Mood disorder

201 (12.8%)

35 (22.2%)

7 (11.1%)

159 (11.8%)

  Dyslipidemia

125 (7.9%)

15 (9.5%)

5 (7.9%)

105 (7.8%)

  Asthma

120 (7.6%)

20 (12.7%)

6 (9.5%)

94 (6.9%)

  Diabetes Mellitus

119 (7.6%)

22 (13.9%)

9 (14.3%)

88 (6.5%)

No. prescribed medications, median (IQR)

2 (1,5)

4 (2,7)

4 (2,8)

2 (1,5)

Most commonly prescribed outpatient medications, no. (%)

  Acetaminophen with codeine

195 (12.4%)

29 (18.4%)

8 (12.7%)

158 (11.7%)

  Ramipril

134 (8.5%)

12 (7.6%)

7 (11.1%)

115 (8.5%)

  Salbutamol

123 (7.8%)

16 (10.1%)

8 (12.7%)

99 (7.3%)

  Rabeprazole

117 (7.4%)

12 (7.6%)

10 (15.9%)

95 (7.0%)

  Lorazepam

106 (6.7%)

7 (4.4%)

6 (9.5%)

93 (6.9%)

Disposition from the ED, no. (%)

  Admitted

283 (18.0%)

40 (25.3%)

20 (31.7%)

223 (16.5%)

  Home

1279 (81.3%)

113 (71.5%)

42 (66.7%)

1124 (83.1%)

  Deceased

3 (0.2%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

3 (0.2%)

  Other

7 (0.4%)

5 (3.2%)

1 (1.6%)

1 (0.1%)

  1. Abbreviations: ADE = adverse drug event, SD = standard deviation, IQR = interquartile range,.
  2. †There were two patients who arrived from an unknown location.
  3. ‡There were two patients with unknown disposition from the ED.