Acute hospital management details of identified cases with a confirmed mTBI diagnosis (n=351) and indeterminate mTBI diagnosis (n=180) who presented to ED
| Confirmed mTBI (WHO criteria) (n=351) | Indeterminate mTBI (secondary criteria) (n=180) | Statistical comparison | |
| N (%) | N (%) | P value* | |
| ED management details | |||
| ED arrival mode | <0.001 | ||
| By ambulance | 250 (71.2) | 56 (31.1) | |
| Other | 101 (28.8) | 124 (68.9) | |
| Triage category | <0.001 | ||
| 1. Seen immediately | 24 (6.8) | 4 (2.2) | |
| 2. Within 10 min | 170 (48.4) | 42 (23.3) | |
| 3. Within 30 min | 116 (33.1) | 64 (35.6) | |
| 4. Within 1 hour | 40 (11.4) | 69 (38.3) | |
| 5. Within 2 hours | 1 (0.3) | 1 (0.6) | |
| Intubation† | 1 (0.3) | 0 | 0.47 |
| ICU admission† | 7 (2) | 1 (0.6) | 0.19 |
| Length of ED stay (hours), median (IQR) | 5.8 (4–8.6) | 3.8 (2.6–5.7) | <0.001 |
| Length of hospital stay (days), median (IQR) | 3.4 (1.9–6.5) | 2 (0.9–7.9) | |
| Discharge destination | <0.001 | ||
| Discharged home | 133 (37.9) | 127 (70.6) | |
| Admitted to ED | 121 (34.5) | 36 (20) | |
| Admitted to ward | 97 (27.6) | 17 (9.4) | |
| Location of initial GCS† | <0.001 | ||
| At the scene 30-min post-injury | 216 (61.5) | 52 (28.9) | |
| At ED presentation | 130 (37) | 127 (70.6) | |
| Brain CT performed† | 266 (75.8) | 73 (40.6) | <0.001 |
| PTA measured† | 182 (51.9) | 46 (25.6) | <0.001 |
| A-WPTAS | 169 (92.8) | 44 (95.6) | |
| WPTAS | 19 (10.4) | 2 (4.4) | |
| Location of PTA testing | (n=182) | (n=46) | |
| In ED | 166 (91.2) | 44 (95.6) | 0.364 |
| In ward | 28 (15.4) | 2 (4.4) | <0.05 |
| Time to PTA testing (hours), median (IQR) | 3.7 (2.3–6.1) | 2.5 (1.7–4.9) | <0.05 |
| PTA classification based on PTA testing | (n=182) | (n=46) | <0.001 |
| Optimal scores/did not fail | 32 (17.8) | 40 (87) | |
| 6–30 min | 2 (1.1) | — | |
| 31–60 min | 1 (0.1) | — | |
| >1–12 hours | 106 (58.4) | — | |
| >12–24 hours | 4 (2.2) | — | |
| Unknown/incomplete/missing | 37 (20.4) | 6 (13) | |
| Head injury advice given† | 166 (47.3) | 120 (66.7) | <0.001 |
| Follow-up recommendations | 128 (36.5) | 43 (23.9) | <0.01 |
| Representations to ED (within 1 month) | 13 (3.7) | 8 (4.4) | |
| Recorded mTBI diagnosis in the ED records | 0.47 | ||
| No | 269 (76.9) | 146 (81.1) | |
| Yes | 81 (23.1) | 34 (18.9) |
The data contain occasional missing data values that are assumed to be random.
*χ2, z-test, t-test.
†Proportion of valid cases.
A-WPTAS, Abbreviated Westmead Post-Traumatic Amnesia Scale; ED, emergency department; GCS, Glasgow Coma Scale; ICU, intensive care unit; mTBI, mild traumatic brain injury; PTA, post-traumatic amnesia; WPTAS, Westmead Post-Traumatic Amnesia Scale.