Table 2 Characteristics of women and men calling OHS-PC with shortness of breath

Mean age in years (SD)

52.5 (22.0)

66.7 (18.7)

50.0 (21.6)

< 0.001^§

16.8 (13.1 to 20.4)

54.4 (20.9)

62.8 (17.7)

52.5 (21.1)

< 0.001^§

10.4 (6.8–13.9)

0.061^||

Call characteristics

 Call duration in min:sec (SD) (n = 1,843)**

11:53 (39:38)

13:54 (51:25)

11:32 (37:17)

0.498^§

2:21 (−4:28 to 9:11)

14:02 (1:03:02)

10:31 (5:26)

14:56 (1:10:23)

0.438^§

−4:24 (−15:33 to 6:44)

0.482^||

 Calling at night (noon-8 AM)

170 (16.5%)

37 (24.0%)

133 (15.2%)

0.006^‡

8.8 (1.6 to 16.0)

181 (21.8%)

29 (18.7%)

152 (22.5%)

0.300^‡

3.8 (−3.1 to 10.7)

0.009^||

 Someone else called on behalf of patient (n = 1,857)**

485 (47.2%)

108 (70.6%)

377 (43.1%)

< 0.001^‡

27.5 (19.6 to 35.4)

462 (55.7%)

121 (78.1%)

341 (50.5%)

< 0.001^‡

27.6 (20.1 to 35.1)

0.732^||

 GP participated in triage (n = 1,856)**

509 (49.5%)

76 (49.4%)

433 (49.5%)

0.975^‡

0.1 (−8.5 to 8.7)

376 (45.2%)

87 (56.1%)

289 (43.0%)

0.003^‡

13.1 (4.4 to 21.8)

0.033^||

Medical history

 Cardiovascular disease (n = 920)**

164 (32.2%)

33 (55.9%)

131 (29.0%)

< 0.001^‡

26.9 (13.6 to 40.2)

144 (35.1%)

41 (50.6%)

103 (31.3%)

0.001^‡

19.3 (7.3 to 31.3)

0.396^||

 Respiratory disease (n = 1,012)**

271 (47.3%)

41 (60.3%)

230 (45.5%)

0.022^‡

14.8 (2.4 to 27.2)

204 (46.5%)

46 (52.9%)

158 (44.9%)

0.181^‡

8.0 (−3.7 to 19.7)

0.439^||

 Thrombo-embolic diseases (n = 660)**

16 (4.2%)

3 (9.7%)

13 (3.7%)

0.133^†

6.0 (−4.6 to 16.6)

8 (2.9%)

2 (3.8%)

6 (2.6%)

0.645^†

1.2 (−4.4 to 6.8)

0.557^||

Medication use

 Cardiovascular medication use

143 (13.9%)

33 (21.4%)

110 (12.6%)

0.003^‡

8.8 (2.0 to 15.6)

127 (15.3%)

37 (23.9%)

90 (13.4%)

0.001^‡

10.5 (3.3 to 17.7)

0.825^||

 Respiratory medication use

280 (27.2%)

40 (26.0%)

240 (27.4%)

0.714^‡

1.4 (−6.1 to 8.9)

188 (22.6%)

36 (23.2%)

152 (22.6%)

0.857^‡

0.6 (−6.8 to 8.0)

0.702^||

 Antithrombotic therapy

36 (3.5%)

8 (5.2%)

28 (3.2%)

0.231^†

2.0 (1.9 to 2.1)

47 (5.7%)

18 (11.6%)

29 (4.3%)

< 0.001^‡

7.3 (2.0 to 12.6)

0.274^||

Symptoms mentioned during the call

 Ankle oedema (n = 96)**

40 (65.6%)

7 (70.0%)

33 (64.7%)

1.000^†

5.3 (−26.0 to 36.6)

14 (40.0%)

4 (57.1%)

10 (35.7%)

0.401^†

21.4 (−19.3 to 62.1)

0.578^||

 Anosmia (n = 100)**

27 (60.0%)

1 (50.0%)

26 (60.5%)

1.000^†

10.5 (−60.3 to 81.3)

22 (40.0%)

0 (0.0%)

22 (42.3%)

0.267^†

42.3 (28.9 to 55.7)

0.998^||

 Autonomic nervous system related symptoms*** (n = 1,373)**

383 (51.3%)

58 (54.7%)

325 (50.7%)

0.444^‡

4.0 (−6.2 to 14.2)

312 (49.8%)

66 (56.9%)

246 (48.2%)

0.092^‡

8.7 (−1.3 to 18.7)

0.527^||

 Coughing (n = 1,315)**

478 (65.4%)

77 (75.5%)

401 (63.8%)

0.021^‡

11.7 (2.5 to 20.9)

416 (71.2%)

89 (77.4%)

327 (69.7%)

0.104^‡

7.7 (−1.0 to 16.4)

0.636^||

 Coughing blood (n = 1,077)**

23 (3.8%)

5 (5.8%)

18 (3.5%)

0.355^†

2.3 (−2.9 to 7.5)

25 (5.3%)

6 (6.7%)

19 (4.9%)

0.598^†

1.8 (−3.8 to 7.4)

0.806^||

 Coughing sputum (n = 648)**

114 (30.7%)

15 (38.5%)

99 (29.8%)

0.268^‡

8.7 (−7.3 to 24.7)

105 (37.9%)

22 (47.8%)

83 (35.9%)

0.129^‡

11.9 (−3.8 to 27.6)

0.825^||

 Fever (n = 1,270)**

163 (22.8%)

28 (28.9%)

135 (21.8%)

0.123^‡

7.1 (−2.5 to 16.7)

184 (33.2%)

47 (42.7%)

137 (30.9%)

0.018^‡

11.8 (1.6 to 22.0)

0.672^||

 Malaise (n = 679)**

290 (79.0%)

46 (86.8%)

244 (77.7%)

0.148^‡

9.1 (−1.1 to 19.3)

246 (78.8%)

58 (95.1%)

188 (74.9%)

< 0.001^‡

20.2 (12.6 to 27.8)

0.097^||

 Musculoskeletal pain (n = 210)**

92 (82.1%)

4 (66.7%)

88 (83.0%)

0.291^†

16.3 (−22.1 to 54.7)

77 (78.6%)

10 (90.9%)

67 (77.0%)

0.448^‡

13.9 (−5.3 to 33.1)

0.158^||

 Palpitations (n = 157)**

57 (63.3%)

1 (20.0%)

56 (65.9%)

0.058^†

45.9 (9.4 to 82.4)

42 (62.7%)

7 (63.6%)

35 (62.5%)

1.000^‡

1.1 (−30.0 to 32.2)

0.116^||

 Rhinitis (n = 428)**

134 (56.8%)

11 (45.8%)

123 (58.0%)

0.253^‡

12.2 (−8.8 to 33.2)

91 (47.4%)

9 (39.1%)

82 (48.5%)

0.397^†

9.4 (−11.9 to 30.7)

0.863^||

 Throat complaints (n = 360)**

132 (63.2%)

14 (51.9%)

118 (64.8%)

0.192^‡

12.9 (−7.2 to 33.0)

91 (60.3%)

8 (44.4%)

83 (62.4%)

0.199^†

18.0 (−6.4 to 42.4)

0.769^||

 Tingling sensations (n = 104)**

40 (70.2%)

3 (100.0%)

37 (68.5%)

0.547^†

31.5 (19.1 to 43.9)

30 (63.8%)

2 (100.0%)

28 (62.2%)

0.528^†

37.8 (23.6 to 52.0)

1.000^||

Chest pain characteristics

 Chest pain (n = 853)**

312 (63.7%)

30 (50.8%)

282 (65.4%)

0.029^‡

14.6 (1.1 to 28.1)

191 (52.6%)

29 (43.3%)

162 (54.7%)

0.090^‡

11.4 (−1.7 to 24.5)

0.712^||

 Chest pain when breathing (n = 169)**

84 (81.6%)

9 (90.0%)

75 (80.6%)

0.684^†

9.4 (−10.9 to 29.7)

52 (78.8%)

7 (70.0%)

45 (80.4%)

0.431^†

10.4 (−19.8 to 40.6)

0.317^||

 Pain onset < 12 h (n = 293)**

100 (55.6%)

7 (50.0%)

93 (56.0%)

0.782^†

6.0 (−21.3 to 33.3)

65 (57.5%)

6 (46.2%)

59 (59.0%)

0.390^†

12.8 (−16.0 to 41.6)

0.734^||

 Pain duration > 15 min (n = 251)**

145 (94.8%)

10 (83.3%)

135 (95.7%)

0.121^‡

12.4 (−8.9 to 33.7)

95 (96.9%)

11 (100.0%)

84 (96.6%)

1.000^‡

3.4 (−0.4 to 7.2)

0.999^||

 Radiation of pain (n = 220)**

86 (64.7%)

8 (53.3%)

78 (66.1%)

0.393^†

12.8 (−13.9 to 39.5)

42 (48.3%)

6 (50.0%)

36 (48.0%)

1.000^†

2.0 (−28.5 to 32.5)

0.460^||

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

19 (29.7%)

3 (60.0%)

16 (27.1%)

0.150^†

32.9 (−11.5 to 77.3)

8 (22.2%)

1 (25.0%)

7 (21.9%)

1.000^†

3.1 (−41.7 to 47.9)

0.434^||

Shortness of breath characteristics

 Stridor (n = 1,147)**

28 (4.4%)

3 (3.7%)

25 (4.5%)

1.000^†

0.8 (−3.7 to 5.3)

10 (2.0%)

1 (1.1%)

9 (2.2%)

0.697^†

1.1 (−1.4 to 3.6)

0.663^||

 Unable to speak full sentences (n = 1,528)**

126 (14.6%)

49 (42.2%)

77 (10.3%)

< 0.001^‡

31.9 (22.6 to 41.2)

97 (14.5%)

41 (34.2%)

56 (10.2%)

< 0.001^‡

24.0 (15.1 to 32.9)

0.309^||

 Wheezing (n = 1,211)**

89 (13.2%)

19 (21.1%)

70 (12.0%)

0.018^‡

9.1 (0.3 to 17.9)

90 (16.7%)

20 (19.6%)

70 (16.0%)

0.381^‡

3.6 (−4.8 to 12.0)

0.290^||