Interaction of First Nations status with variables predicting higher triage acuity for all emergency department visits*
| Variable | First Nations | Non–First Nations | p value† | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OR | 95 % LCL | 95 % UCL | OR | 95 % LCL | 95 % UCL | ||
| Male sex v. female sex | 1.13 | 1.11 | 1.15 | 1.12 | 1.11 | 1.12 | 0.42 |
| Age, per 10-year increment | 1.00 | 0.99 | 1.00 | 1.01 | 1.01 | 1.01 | < 0.001 |
| 1 or more comorbidities v. 0 comorbidities | 1.31 | 1.28 | 1.34 | 1.57 | 1.56 | 1.58 | < 0.001 |
| Neighbourhood income < $42 000 v. ≥ $42 000 | 0.91 | 0.89 | 0.93 | 1.01 | 1.01 | 1.02 | < 0.001 |
| Trip distance > 5 km v. ≤ 5 km | 1.04 | 1.01 | 1.06 | 1.06 | 1.05 | 1.06 | 0.35 |
| Arrival by air or ground ambulance v. not arriving by ambulance | 3.57 | 3.50 | 3.64 | 2.51 | 2.50 | 2.53 | < 0.001 |
| Shift | |||||||
| Day presentation (8:01–16:00) | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | |
| Evening presentation (16:01–00:00) | 1.18 | 1.16 | 1.20 | 1.24 | 1.23 | 1.24 | < 0.001 |
| Night presentation (00:01–8:00) | 1.38 | 1.35 | 1.47 | 1.32 | 1.31 | 1.33 | < 0.001 |
| Facility | |||||||
| Large community hospital | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | |
| Community ambulatory or urgent care centre | 1.41 | 1.35 | 1.47 | 1.24 | 1.23 | 1.26 | < 0.001 |
| Tertiary pediatric hospital | 4.15 | 3.97 | 4.34 | 2.56 | 2.52 | 2.59 | < 0.001 |
| Tertiary mixed hospital | 4.58 | 4.43 | 4.72 | 4.55 | 4.50 | 4.60 | 0.74 |
| Regional hospital | 3.30 | 3.20 | 3.39 | 3.27 | 3.24 | 3.30 | 0.60 |
| Medium community hospital | 1.05 | 1.01 | 1.08 | 1.08 | 1.06 | 1.09 | 0.11 |
| Small community hospital | 0.47 | 0.44 | 0.49 | 0.62 | 0.61 | 0.63 | < 0.001 |
| Zone | |||||||
| Calgary | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | |
| North | 0.36 | 0.35 | 0.37 | 0.37 | 0.37 | 0.37 | 0.35 |
| Edmonton | 0.51 | 0.49 | 0.52 | 0.55 | 0.55 | 0.56 | < 0.001 |
| Central | 0.43 | 0.41 | 0.44 | 0.43 | 0.42 | 0.43 | 0.96 |
| South | 0.21 | 0.20 | 0.22 | 0.26 | 0.25 | 0.26 | < 0.001 |
Note: LCL = lower confidence limit, OR = odds ratio, UCL = upper confidence limit.
↵* Multivariable, multilevel logistic mixed-effects regression model, with levels for emergency department visit, patient and facility, and interaction terms between First Nations status and all independent variables. Models adjust for patient age, patient sex, comorbidities, area income, distance between patient residence and nearest hospital, mode of arrival (i.e., by ambulance or not), facility type presented to and zone of patient residence.
↵† p value represents significance of difference for the interaction of First Nations and non-First Nations status.