Baseline characteristics of patients admitted on Chinese New Year holidays, weekends and weekdays
| Chinese New Year holidays (n=10 779) | Weekends (n=35 870) | Weekdays (n=143 529) | P value | |
| Age (years) | <0.001 | |||
| <40 | 1090 (10.1%) | 3684 (10.3%) | 14 673 (10.2%) | |
| 40–59 | 2611 (24.2%) | 8734 (24.3%) | 37 635 (26.2%) | |
| 60–79 | 4507 (41.8%) | 15 130 (42.2%) | 60 821 (42.4%) | |
| ≥80 | 2571 (23.9%) | 8322 (23.2%) | 30 400 (21.2%) | |
| Sex | 0.016 | |||
| Male | 6320 (58.6%) | 20 544 (57.3%) | 83 181 (58.0%) | |
| Female | 4459 (41.4%) | 15 326 (42.7%) | 60 348 (42.0%) | |
| Principal diagnosis of hospitalisation | ||||
| Pneumonia | 1961 (18.2%) | 5482 (15.3%) | 18 573 (12.9%) | <0.001 |
| Urinary tract infection | 621 (5.8%) | 1901 (5.3%) | 6121 (4.3%) | <0.001 |
| Ischaemic heart disease | 553 (5.1%) | 2694 (7.5%) | 11 058 (7.7%) | <0.001 |
| Heart failure | 413 (3.8%) | 1438 (4.0%) | 5459 (3.8%) | 0.194 |
| UGI bleeding | 1179 (10.9%) | 3705 (10.3%) | 13 370 (9.3%) | <0.001 |
| COPD | 755 (7.0%) | 2137 (6.0%) | 7910 (5.5%) | <0.001 |
| Renal disease | 360 (3.3%) | 1307 (3.6%) | 5459 (3.8%) | 0.026 |
| Liver disease | 775 (7.2%) | 2318 (6.5%) | 9308 (6.5%) | 0.015 |
| Stroke | 776 (7.2%) | 2641 (7.4%) | 9709 (6.8%) | <0.001 |
| Cellulitis | 258 (2.4%) | 612 (1.7%) | 2397 (1.7%) | <0.001 |
| Malignancy | 580 (5.4%) | 2081 (5.8%) | 11 896 (8.3%) | <0.001 |
| Others | 2548 (23.6%) | 9554 (26.6%) | 42 269 (29.4%) | <0.001 |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index score | <0.001 | |||
| 0–2 | 6116 (56.7%) | 19 771 (55.1%) | 73 860 (51.5%) | |
| 3–5 | 3057 (28.4%) | 10 405 (29.0%) | 41 826 (29.1%) | |
| ≥6 | 1606 (14.9%) | 5694 (15.9%) | 27 843 (19.4%) | |
| Comorbidities | ||||
| Hypertension | 5920 (54.9%) | 20 101 (56.0%) | 78 072 (54.4%) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 3684 (34.2%) | 12 024 (33.5%) | 46 893 (32.7%) | <0.001 |
| COPD | 3782 (35.1%) | 12 007 (33.5%) | 47 301 (33.0%) | <0.001 |
| Heart failure | 1659 (15.4%) | 5759 (16.1%) | 21 324 (14.9%) | <0.001 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 1566 (14.5%) | 5392 (15.0%) | 21 121 (14.7%) | 0.248 |
| Chronic liver disease | 2156 (20.0%) | 7226 (20.1%) | 30 475 (21.2%) | <0.001 |
| Dementia | 648 (6.0%) | 2246 (6.3%) | 8285 (5.8%) | 0.002 |
| Malignancy | 1668 (15.5%) | 6274 (17.5%) | 33 597 (23.4%) | <0.001 |
| Hospital level | 0.063 | |||
| Level 1 (medical centre) | 3401 (31.6%) | 11 447 (31.9%) | 45 930 (32.0%) | |
| Level 2 (regional hospital) | 4911 (45.6%) | 15 868 (44.2%) | 64 149 (44.7%) | |
| Level 3 (district hospital) | 2467 (22.9%) | 8555 (23.9%) | 33 450 (23.3%) | |
| Income level (NTD) | <0.001 | |||
| Financially dependent | 3843 (35.7%) | 12 672 (35.3%) | 50 163 (34.9%) | |
| 1–19 999 | 5244 (48.7%) | 17 549 (48.9%) | 68 823 (48.0%) | |
| 20 000–39 999 | 1159 (10.8%) | 3739 (10.4%) | 16 147 (11.3%) | |
| ≥40 000 | 533 (4.9%) | 1910 (5.3%) | 8396 (5.8%) | |
| Urbanisation level | <0.001 | |||
| 1 (Most urbanised) | 2487 (23.1%) | 8296 (23.1%) | 34 457 (24.0%) | |
| 2 | 2818 (26.1%) | 9268 (25.8%) | 37 420 (26.1%) | |
| 3 | 2077 (19.3%) | 6828 (19.0%) | 27 544 (19.2%) | |
| 4 | 1835 (17.0%) | 6320 (17.6%) | 24 419 (17.0%) | |
| 5 (Least urbanised) | 1562 (14.5%) | 5158 (14.4%) | 19 689 (13.7%) |
The categorical variables between groups were compared using Χ2 tests.
COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; NTD, New Taiwan dollars; UGI, upper gastrointestinal.