Table 1 Baseline characteristics of 1833 callers who called the OHS-PC with SOB, divided in those who received a high NTS urgency level allocation and low NTS urgency level allocation
|  | Total n = 1833 | High NTS urgency level n = 766 (41.8%) | Low NTS urgency level n = 1067 (58.2%) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Patient characteristics | ||||
Mean age in years (SD) | 53.3 (21.5) | 58.4 (20.7) | 49.7 (21.4) | < 0.001 |
Male sex | 815 (44.5%) | 351 (45.8%) | 464 (43.5%) | 0.321 |
Female sex | 1018 (55.5%) | 415 (54.2%) | 603 (56.5%) | 0.321 |
Call characteristics | ||||
Call duration in min:sec (SD) (n = 1818)* | 12:53 (51:45) | 14:43 (1:09:26) | 11:33 (33:47) | 0.245 |
Someone else called on behalf of patient (n = 1830)* | 932 (50.9%) | 476 (62.2%) | 456 (42.8%) | < 0.001 |
GP participated in triage (n = 1831)* | 870 (47.5%) | 397 (51.9%) | 473 (44.4%) | 0.001 |
Medical history | ||||
Cardiovascular disease (n = 912)* | 306 (33.6%) | 149 (40.3%) | 157 (29.0%) | < 0.001 |
Respiratory disease (n = 1001)* | 469 (46.9%) | 223 (54.0%) | 246 (41.8%) | < 0.001 |
Thrombo-embolic diseases (n = 651)* | 22 (3.4%) | 7 (2.9%) | 15 (3.6%) | 0.822 |
Use of medication | ||||
Cardiovascular medication use | 266 (14.5%) | 120 (15.7%) | 146 (13.7%) | 0.235 |
Respiratory medication use | 459 (25.0%) | 211 (27.5%) | 248 (23.2%) | 0.036 |
Antithrombotic therapy | 80 (4.4%) | 38 (5.0%) | 42 (3.9%) | 0.290 |
Symptoms mentioned during the call | ||||
Ankle oedema (n = 95) | 54 (56.8%) | 20 (57.1%) | 34 (56.7%) | 0.964 |
Autonomic nervous system related symptoms** (n = 1357)* | 689 (50.8%) | 340 (55.6%) | 349 (46.8%) | 0.001 |
Chest pain (n = 839)* | 495 (59.0%) | 221 (62.4%) | 274 (56.5%) | 0.084 |
Coughing (n = 1298)* | 881 (67.9%) | 346 (66.5%) | 535 (68.8%) | 0.400 |
Coughing blood (n = 1066)* | 48 (4.5%) | 20 (4.3%) | 28 (4.6%) | 0.832 |
Coughing sputum (n = 638)* | 216 (33.9%) | 84 (33.3%) | 132 (34.2%) | 0.822 |
Fever (n = 1252) | 344 (27.5%) | 151 (30.8%) | 193 (25.4%) | 0.037 |
Immobilisation (n = 84)* | 58 (69.0%) | 22 (81.5%) | 36 (63.2%) | 0.129 |
Malaise (n = 672)* | 529 (78.7%) | 209 (87.1%) | 320 (74.1%) | < 0.001 |
Musculoskeletal pain (n = 209)* | 168 (80.4%) | 62 (87.3%) | 106 (76.8%) | 0.097 |
Palpitations (n = 154)* | 99 (64.3%) | 43 (72.9%) | 56 (58.9%) | 0.079 |
Shortness of breath (n = 1806)* | 1747 (96.7%) | 740 (97.9%) | 1007 (95.9%) | 0.020 |
Swollen calf (n = 41)* | 5 (12.2%) | 3 (20.0%) | 2 (7.7%) | 0.246 |
Tingling sensations (n = 102)* | 68 (66.7%) | 22 (66.7%) | 46 (66.7%) | 1.000 |
Chest pain characteristics | ||||
Chest pain when breathing (n = 169)* | 136 (80.5%) | 57 (76.0%) | 79 (84.0%) | 0.190 |
Pain onset < 12 hours (n = 288)* | 161 (55.9%) | 81 (56.6%) | 80 (55.2%) | 0.802 |
Pain duration > 15 minutes (n = 248)* | 237 (95.6%) | 117 (95.9%) | 120 (95.2%) | 1.000 |
Posture-specific chest pain (n = 34)* | 27 (79.4%) | 12 (75.0%) | 15 (83.3%) | 0.681 |
Radiation of pain (n = 216)* | 126 (58.3%) | 74 (61.2%) | 52 (54.7%) | 0.342 |
Severe pain (score > 7 on VAS) (n = 98)* | 26 (26.5%) | 20 (30.3%) | 6 (18.8%) | 0.329 |
Shortness of breath characteristics | ||||
SOB on exertion (n = 701)* | 608 (86.7%) | 239 (92.6%) | 369 (83.3%) | < 0.001 |
SOB at rest (n = 1542)* | 1484 (96.2%) | 651 (98.6%) | 833 (94.4%) | < 0.001 |
Stridor (n = 1135)* | 37 (3.3%) | 12 (2.7%) | 25 (3.6%) | 0.421 |
Unable to speak full sentences (n = 1507)* | 222 (14.7%) | 147 (24.3%) | 75 (8.3%) | < 0.001 |
Wheezing (n = 1199)* | 177 (14.8%) | 79 (16.8%) | 98 (13.5%) | 0.114 |