Summary characteristics of included studies (n=81)
| Characteristics of included studies | n (%) |
| Scope | |
| National | 14 (17) |
| Multicentre | 67 (83) |
| Disease categories | |
| Cardiovascular | 33 (41) |
| Emergency services (adult and paediatric) | 14 (17) |
| General (including vaccination and hospice) | 12 (15) |
| Digestive | 5 (6) |
| Orthopaedic and trauma | 5 (6) |
| Others (eg, mental health, urology, neurology) | 12 (15) |
| Setting | |
| Hospitals (or inpatient care) | 41 (51) |
| Emergency | 15 (19) |
| Emergency and hospital | 12 (15) |
| Community and/or outpatient | 9 (11) |
| Hospital and outpatient | 4 (5) |
| Study design* | |
| Time trend | |
| Time trend—multiple prior year | 5 (6) |
| Time trend—single prior year | 4 (5) |
| Same period (before–after) | |
| Same period—multiple prior year | 16 (20) |
| Same period—single prior year | 56 (69) |
| Country | |
| Multinational | 3 (4) |
| Americas | 24 (30) |
| Europe | 45 (56) |
| Asia and Australia | 9 (11) |
*This refers to the type of data used in included studies rather than the type of analysis.