Comparison of Reliability and Validity of the Chinese Four-Level and Three-District Triage Standard and the Australasian Triage Scale
Table 2
Association of the triage category with physiological indexes and outcomes (n = 1552).
Variable
Triage system
Triage category
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Age (years, $)
CHT
57.0 (44.0, 69.0)
60.5 (49.0, 71.0)
55.5 (45.0, 68.0)
57.5 (30.5, 70.0)
<0.001
ATS
59.0 (45.7, 70.0)
60.0 (49.0, 70.0)
58.0 (44.0, 69.0)
64.0 (51.7, 68.0)
<0.001
Temperature (°C, $)
CHT
36.5 (36.1, 37.7)
36.5 (36.4, 36.8)
36.7 (36.5, 36.8)
36.6 (36.5, 36.8)
<0.001
ATS
36.7 (36.2, 37.3)
36.5 (36.4, 36.8)
36.7 (36.5, 36.8)
36.5 (36.4, 36.9)
<0.001
Respiration (times/min, $)
CHT
21.0 (20.0, 28.0)
20.0 (20.0, 24.00)
20.0 (20.0, 20.0)
20.0 (20.0, 20.0)
<0.001
ATS
20.5 (20.0, 26.5)
20.0 (20.0, 22.0)
20.0 (20.0, 22.0)
20.0 (20.0, 20.0)
<0.001
Pulse (times/min, $)
CHT
118.0 (90.0, 134.0)
90.0 (79.0, 108.8)
87.0 (79.0, 103.5)
87.5 (84.2, 101.5)
<0.001
ATS
107.5 (90.0, 126.5)
87.0 (78.0, 107.0)
90.0 (80.0, 105.0)
73.5 (71.7, 90.7)
0.001
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg, $)
CHT
135.0 (120.0, 159.0)
131.0 (110.0, 154.0)
124.0 (111.0, 150.0)
127.5 (112.0, 141.5)
-
ATS
148.0 (129.7, 169.5)
133.0 (112.0, 159.0)
124.0 (110.0, 148.0)
150.0 (108.0, 168.0)
0.042
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg, $)
CHT
83.0 (70.0, 99.0)
77.0 (66.0, 89.0)
75.0 (67.0, 86.0)
69.5 (63.0, 84.5)
-
ATS
81.0 (70.0, 102.0)
79.0 (68.0, 90.0)
74.5 (66.0, 86.0)
78.0 (72.5, 88.0)
0.036
Blood oxygen saturation (%, $)
CHT
92.0 (80.0, 98.00)
96.0 (91.0, 98.0)
97.0 (95.0, 98.0)
98.0 (97.2, 98.7)
<0.001
ATS
91.0 (78.0, 96.5)
97.0 (91.0, 98.0)
97.0 (95.0, 98.0)
97.5 (96.2, 99.0)
<0.001
Waiting time (min, $)
CHT
1.0 (1.0, 4.0)
2.0 (1.0, 5.0)
9.5 (2.0, 21.7)
18.0 (10.0, 38.2)
<0.001
ATS
1.0 (1.0, 2.0)
2.0 (1.0, 5.0)
8.0 (2.0, 20.0)
17.5 (4.3, 34.5)
<0.001
Treatment time (min, $)
CHT
1.0 (1.0, 2.0)
8.0 (2.0, 28.7)
48.5 (25.0, 95.0)
134.5 (85.5, 184.0)
<0.001
ATS
1.0 (1.0, 4.5)
12.0 (2.0, 44.0)
35.0 (15.0, 78.3)
97.5 (83.7, 138.7)
<0.001
Length of stay (days, $)
CHT
18.0 (11.5, 28.0)
12.0 (9.0, 18.0)
12.0 (8.0, 16.0)
10.5 (9.0, 15.7)
0.019
ATS
18.0 (11.3, 28.0)
12.0 (8.5, 19.0)
12.0 (8.7, 16.0)
14.0 (6.8, 21.3)
0.023
Hospitalization rate (n, %)
CHT
35 (63.6)
416 (72.3)
418 (48.4)
12 (20.3)
<0.001
ATS
32 (66.7)
349 (71.7)
494 (51.2)
6 (11.3)
<0.001
Total mortality rate (n, %)
CHT
18 (32.7)
109 (19.0)
38 (4.4)
-
<0.001
ATS
19 (39.6)
87 (17.9)
57 (6.1)
-
<0.001
Emergency mortality rate (n, %)
CHT
12 (21.8)
46 (8.0)
9 (1.0)
<0.001
ATS
9 (18.8)
38 (7.8)
20 (2.1)
<0.001
Disposition (n, %)
CHT
<0.001
ICU
51 (92.7)
491 (85.4)
158 (18.3)
-
Observation
3 (5.5)
73 (12.7)
434 (50.3)
24 (40.7)
Discharge
1 (1.8)
8 (1.4)
218 (25.3)
27 (45.8)
Outpatient
—
3 (0.5)
53 (6.1)
8 (13.6)
ATS
<0.001
ICU
47 (97.9)
367 (75.4)
284 (29.5)
2 (3.8)
Observation
1 (2.1)
99 (20.3)
422 (43.8)
12 (22.6)
Discharge
16 (3.3)
204 (21.2)
34 (64.2)
Outpatient
5 (1.0)
54 (5.6)
5 (9.4)
Note. , compared with level 1; , compared with level 1; , compared with level 2, , compared with level 2; ,, compared with level 3, , compared with level 3. CHT, three-district and four-level triage standards of the Chinese Ministry of Health; ATS, Australasian Triage Scale; $, median (Q25, Q75).
