Differences in patient characteristics between young children and adolescents (N=37 420)
| Children 3 months–12 years n=34 843 n (%) | Children ≥12 years n=2577 n (%) | |
| Male | 19 182 (55.1) | 1307 (50.7) |
| Age in years, median (IQR) | 2.6 (1.3–4.9) | 14.5 (13.2–16.1) |
| Comorbidity† | ||
| Simple | 4302 (12.5) | 489 (19.1) |
| Complex | 1332 (3.9) | 241 (9.4) |
| Duration of fever* | ||
| <24 hours | 11 410 (35.1) | 854 (37.3) |
| 24–48 hours | 10 622 (32.7) | 682 (29.8) |
| >48 hours | 10 433 (31.1) | 755 (33.0) |
| Referral | ||
| Self | 19 537 (57.8) | 1231 (49.4) |
| General practitioner/private paediatrician | 5654 (16.7) | 493 (19.8) |
| Emergency medical service | 5010 (14.8) | 430 (17.3) |
| Other | 3574 (10.6) | 337 (13.5) |
| Triage urgency | ||
| High: immediate, very urgent, intermediate | 11 664 (34.5) | 967 (38.9) |
| Vital signs‡ and PEWS | ||
| Tachycardia APLS | 8552 (24.5) | 764 (29.6) |
| Tachypnoea APLS | 5282 (15.2) | 189 (7) |
| Hypoxia, oxygen saturation <95% APLS | 805 (2.3) | 30 (1) |
| Prolonged capillary refill ≥3 s (ns) | 343 (1.1) | 25 (1) |
| Simplified PEWS 6 or higher | 782 (4.5) | 81 (6) |
| NICE ‘red traffic lights’ (alarming signs) | ||
| Ill appearance | 5203 (15.6) | 559 (23.1) |
| Increased work of breathing | 3050 (10.0) | 67 (3) |
| Rash: petechiae/non-blanching | 1040 (3.4) | 53 (2) |
| Decreased consciousness (ns) | 178 (1) | 16 (1) |
| Meningeal signs | 97 (0) | 23 (1) |
| Status epilepticus (ns) | 58 (0) | 8 (0) |
| Focal neurology | 110 (0) | 19 (1) |
Missing values: general patient characteristics: <7%; vital signs: 9%–23%; NICE alarming signs: 1%–18%.
All comparisons were p<0.001, unless otherwise indicated.
*P≤0.05.
†Comorbidity: a chronic underlying condition that is expected to last at least 1 year. Complex comorbidity: a chronic condition in ≥2 body systems or malignancy or immunocompromised patients.
‡According to APLS cut-off values by age.
APLS, Advanced Paediatric Life Support; NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence; NS, not significant; PEWS, Paediatric Early Warning Scores.