Table 1

Characteristics of appendicitis patients aged 15 or above and their admitting hospitals in Taiwan, 1997–2001


Non-Ruptured (n = 73,015)
Ruptured (n = 24,574)
Total (n = 97,589)




Characteristics
n
(%)
n
(%)
n

Mental disorder status





     No major mental disorder
72,758
(74.9)
24,396
(25.1)
97,154
     Schizophrenia
138
(53.3)
121
(46.7)
259
     Affective psychosis
89
(72.4)
34
(27.6)
123
     Other major mental disorders
30
(56.6)
23
(43.4)
53
Gender





     Female
36,416
(78.4)
10,024
(21.6)
46,440
     Male
36,599
(71.6)
14,550
(28.5)
51,149
Age (years)





     15–24
23,178
(81.4)
5,281
(18.6)
28,459
     25–34
18,341
(81.2)
4,261
(18.9)
22,602
     35–44
14,518
(75.9)
4,619
(24.1)
19,137
     45–54
7,929
(69.7)
3,440
(30.3)
11,369
     55–64
4,247
(62.1)
2,597
(38.0)
6,844
     65–74
3,277
(55.1)
2,669
(44.9)
5,946
     ≥ 75
1,525
(47.2)
1,707
(52.8)
3,232
Ethnicity





     Non-aboriginal
70,535
(74.8)
23,770
(25.2)
94,305
     Aboriginal
2,480
(75.5)
804
(24.5)
3,284
Socioeconomic status





     ≥ NT$40,000
11,211
(75.3)
3,685
(24.7)
14,896
     NT$20,000 ~ NT$39,999
17,244
(77.2)
5,103
(22.8)
22,347
     <NT$20,000
21,846
(77.0)
6,523
(23.0)
28,369
     Without a well-defined monthly wage
22,714
(71.0)
9,263
(29.0)
31,977
Hospital ownership





     Public
15,529
(76.7)
4,719
(23.3)
20,248
     Nonprofit
33,578
(74.4)
11,544
(25.6)
45,122
     Profit
23,908
(74.2)
8,311
(25.8)
32,219
Hospital accreditation level





     District Hospital-nonteaching
14,093
(73.5)
5,072
(26.5)
19,165
     District Hospital-teaching
13,331
(80.5)
3,225
(19.5)
16,556
     Regional Hospital
28,810
(75.1)
9,565
(24.9)
38,375
     Medical Center
16,781
(71.4)
6,712
(28.6)
23,493
Hospital volume





     ≥ 360
18,370
(72.8)
6,851
(27.2)
25,221
     210–360
19,120
(74.5)
6,559
(25.5)
25,679
     80–210
17,907
(77.1)
5,324
(22.9)
23,231
     0–80
17,618
(75.1)
5,840
(24.9)
23,458
Hospital's geographic location





     Taipei Branch
23,536
(77.0)
7,040
(23.0)
30,576
     Northern Branch
12,999
(77.7)
3,739
(22.3)
16,738
     Central Branch
11,790
(70.6)
4,907
(29.4)
16,697
     Southern Branch
9,789
(72.7)
3,676
(27.3)
13,465
     Kao-Ping Branch
12,693
(73.6)
4,553
(26.4)
17,246
     Eastern Branch
2,208
(77.0)
659
(23.0)
2,867
Year





     1997
13,649
(72.7)
5,129
(27.3)
18,778
     1998
13,892
(73.8)
4,939
(26.2)
18,831
     1999
14,435
(74.2)
5,017
(25.8)
19,452
     2000
15,146
(76.1)
4,757
(23.9)
19,903
     2001
15,893
(77.1)
4,732
(22.9)
20,625

Tsay et al. BMC Public Health 2007 7:331   doi:10.1186/1471-2458-7-331