Table 1

Association between characteristics of parents and children and urgent emergency department visits

CharacteristicsNon-urgent visits (n=202)Urgent visits (n=184)Total (n=386)P value*
Parents
Age (years)36.3±6.336.3±6.036.3±6.20.996
Relationship to child0.148
 Father52 (25.7%)36 (19.6%)88 (22.8%)
 Mother150 (74.3%)148 (80.4%)298 (77.2%)
Place of residence0.830
 Outside the prefecture10 (4.9%)10 (5.4%)20 (5.2%)
 Within the prefecture192 (95.1%)174 (94.6%)366 (94.8%)
Medical professional0.779
 No166 (83%)153 (84.1%)319 (83.5%)
 Yes34 (17.0%)29 (15.9%)63 (16.5%)
Education0.756
 Less than a university degree137 (68.2%)120 (66.7%)257 (67.5%)
 University degree or higher64 (31.8%)60 (33.3%)124 (32.6%)
Self-evaluation on visit necessity0.664
 Unnecessary9 (5.4%)6 (4.3%)15 (4.9%)
 Necessary159 (94.6%)134 (95.7%)293 (95.1%)
Child
Age (years)4.0±2.53.2±2.43.6±2.50.003
Sex of child0.720
 Male105 (52.0%)99 (53.8%)204 (52.9%)
 Female97 (48.0%)85 (46.2%)182 (47.2%)
Birth order0.283
 First106 (52.5%)86 (47.0%)192 (49.9%)
 Second or later96 (47.5%)97 (53.0%)193 (50.1%)
Medical history0.930
 None173 (85.6%)157 (85.3%)330 (85.5%)
 Yes29 (14.4%)27 (14.7%)56 (14.5%)
Enrolment in daycare or school0.013
 None40 (19.8%)55 (29.9%)95 (24.6%)
 Daycare/kindergarten120 (61.2%)103 (56.6%)223 (57.8%)
 School42 (21.4%)26 (14.3%)68 (17.6%)
Outcome0.068
 Home202 (100%)181 (98.4%)383 (99.2%)
 Hospitalised0 (0%)3 (1.6%)3 (0.8%)
  • *P values were generated using a t-test or χ2 test. P values indicating statistically significant difference (p<0.05) are shown in bold.