Table 1 Baseline characteristics of 1,843 patients who called the OHS-PC with SOB, stratified by expressed concerns (yes/no)

Patient characteristics

 Mean age in years (SD)

53.4 (21.6)

53.5 (20.9)

53.2 (22.0)

0.785

 Male sex

817 (44.3%)

360 (44.8%)

457 (44.0%)

0.734

 Female sex

1,026 (55.7%)

444 (55.2%)

582 (56.0%)

0.734

Call characteristics

 Call duration in min:sec (SD) (n = 1,829)^a

12:52 (51:36)

14:40 (56:26)

11:29 (47:30)

0.192

 Someone else called on behalf of patient (n = 1,840)^a

939 (51.0%)

417 (51.9%)

522 (50.3%)

0.498

 GP participated in triage (n = 1,841)^a

876 (47.6%)

405 (50.4%)

471 (45.4%)

0.031

Medical history

 Cardiovascular disease (n = 916)^a

308 (33.6%)

148 (35.0%)

160 (32.5%)

0.418

 Respiratory disease (n = 1,005)^a

471 (46.9%)

205 (45.4%)

266 (48.1%)

0.385

 Thrombo-embolic diseases (n = 656)^a

24 (3.7%)

12 (4.0%)

12 (3.3%)

0.636

Use of medication

 Cardiovascular medication use

269 (14.6%)

134 (16.7%)

135 (13.0%)

0.027

 Respiratory medication use

462 (25.1%)

171 (21.3%)

291 (28.0%)

 < 0.001

 Antithrombotic therapy

82 (4.4%)

42 (5.2%)

40 (3.8%)

0.156

Symptoms mentioned during the call

 Ankle oedema (n = 95)^a

54 (56.8%)

28 (52.8%)

26 (61.9%)

0.375

 Autonomic nervous system related symptoms^b (n = 1,364)^a

693 (50.8%)

321 (51.4%)

372 (50.3%)

0.707

 Chest pain (n = 845)^a

499 (59.1%)

244 (60.4%)

255 (57.8%)

0.447

 Coughing (n = 1,302)^a

883 (67.8%)

380 (65.5%)

503 (69.7%)

0.111

 Coughing blood (n = 1,073)^a

48 (4.5%)

24 (5.0%)

24 (4.0%)

0.429

 Coughing sputum (n = 641)^a

216 (33.7%)

94 (32.3%)

122 (34.9%)

0.496

 Fever (n = 1,261)

346 (27.4%)

159 (29.5%)

187 (25.9%)

0.157

 Immobilisation (n = 85)^a

58 (68.2%)

36 (72.0%)

22 (62.9%)

0.373

 Malaise (n = 676)^a

533 (78.8%)

279 (80.4%)

254 (77.2%)

0.309

 Musculoskeletal pain (n = 209)^a

168 (80.4%)

74 (74.7%)

94 (85.5%)

0.052

 Palpitations (n = 155)^a

99 (63.9%)

60 (63.2%)

39 (65.0%)

0.816

Shortness of breath (n = 1,816)^a

1,757 (96.8%)

766 (96.1%)

991 (97.3%)

0.173

 Swollen calf (n = 41)^a

5 (12.2%)

3 (10.7%)

2 (15.4%)

0.645

 Tingling sensations (n = 103)^a

69 (67.0%)

42 (62.7%)

27 (75.0%)

0.273

Chest pain characteristics

 Chest pain association with respiration (n = 169)^a

136 (80.5%)

65 (75.6%)

71 (85.5%)

0.102

 Pain onset < 12 h (n = 291)^a

163 (56.0%)

78 (50.3%)

85 (62.5%)

0.037

 Pain duration > 15 min (n = 250)^a

239 (95.6%)

131 (93.6%)

108 (98.2%)

0.078

 Posture-specific chest pain (n = 35)^a

28 (80.0%)

14 (73.7%)

14 (87.5%)

0.309

 Radiation of pain (n = 219)^a

128 (58.4%)

68 (57.6%)

60 (59.4%)

0.790

 Severe pain (score > 7 on VAS) (n = 100)^a

27 (27.0%)

7 (19.4%)

20 (31.3%)

0.245

Shortness of breath characteristics

 SOB on exertion (n = 706)^a

612 (86.7%)

270 (85.4%)

342 (87.7%)

0.382

 SOB at rest (n = 1,550)^a

1,491 (96.2%)

654 (96.5%)

837 (96.0%)

0.629

 Stridor (n = 1,141)^a

38 (3.3%)

18 (3.6%)

20 (3.1%)

0.695

 Unable to speak full sentences (n = 1,514)^a

223 (14.7%)

108 (16.2%)

115 (13.6%)

0.161

 Wheezing (n = 1,205)^a

179 (14.9%)

64 (12.1%)

115 (17.0%)

0.018