Elderly and Nonelderly Use of a Dedicated Ambulance Corps’ Emergency Medical Services in Taiwan
Table 2
Comparison of the reasons for calling EMS between the elderly and nonelderly in the transport calls.
Variables
Elderly
Nonelderly
Total
P
Nontrauma
176 (63.8)
170 (34.1)
346 (44.7)
<0.001
Altered mental status
45 (16.3)
24 (4.8)
69 (8.9)
<0.001
Dyspnea
32 (11.6)
14 (2.8)
46 (5.9)
<0.001
Limb weakness
20 (7.2)
11 (2.2)
31 (4.0)
0.001
Abdominal pain
19 (6.9)
12 (2.4)
31 (4.0)
0.002
Headache/dizziness/syncope
19 (6.9)
24 (4.8)
43 (5.5)
0.227
Nausea/vomiting/diarrhea
12 (4.3)
15 (3.0)
27 (3.4)
0.329
Chest pain
9 (3.3)
8 (1.6)
15 (1.9)
0.131
Fever
9 (3.3)
13 (2.6)
22 (2.8)
0.653
OHCA
8 (2.9)
5 (1.0)
13 (1.7)
0.075
Cold sweating
4 (0.8)
0 (0)
4 (0.8)
0.016
Foreign-body aspiration
2 (0.7)
3 (0.6)
5 (0.6)
>0.95
Epilepsy
2 (0.7)
15 (3.0)
17 (2.2)
0.038
Fell down on the road
1 (0.4)
4 (0.8)
5 (0.6)
0.465
Drowning
1 (0.4)
0 (0)
1 (0.1)
0.178
Psychiatric disease
0 (0)
21 (4.2)
21 (2.7)
0.001
Drug poisoning
0 (0)
3 (0.6)
3 (0.4)
0.197
Suicide
0 (0)
2 (0.4)
2 (0.4)
0.541
Emergency delivery
0 (0)
2 (0.4)
2 (0.3)
0.292
CO poisoning
0 (0)
1 (0.2)
1 (0.1)
>0.95
Trauma
100 (36.2)
329 (65.9)
429 (55.4)
<0.001
Traffic accident
46 (16.7)
259 (51.9)
305 (39.4)
<0.001
Slip
17 (6.2)
14 (2.8)
31 (4.0)
0.023
General trauma
15 (5.4)
31 (11.2)
46 (5.9)
0.661
Fall
7 (2.5)
6 (1.2)
13 (1.7)
0.166
Penetration
2 (0.7)
0 (0)
2 (0.3)
0.057
Fighting
1 (0.4)
4 (0.8)
5 (0.6)
0.465
OHCA
1 (0.4)
0 (0)
1 (0.1)
0.178
Burn
0 (0)
3 (0.6)
3 (0.4)
0.197
Data are number (%) or mean ± standard deviation (SD). EMS, emergency medical services; CO, carbon monoxide; OHCA, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Injury to the head, chest, abdomen, back, and limbs.
