Table 1 Characteristics of all ED patients with hyperglycemic crises in the three hospitals

Number of patients

2666 (100)

1820 (68.3)

846 (31.7)

2505 (94.0)

161 (6.0)

2326 (87.2)

340 (12.8)

Age (years)

65.3 ± 16.9

63.7 ± 17.5

68.9 ± 14.9

 < 0.001

65.3 ± 16.9

65.8 ± 16.1

0.685

64.3 ± 17.0

72.6 ± 13.8

 < 0.001

Age subgroup

 < 0.001

0.646

 < 0.001

 20 − 34 years

154 (5.8)

135 (7.4)

19 (2.2)

146 (5.8)

8 (5.0)

152 (6.5)

2 (0.6)

 35 − 49 years

317 (11.9)

245 (13.5)

72 (8.5)

302 (12.1)

15 (9.3)

300 (12.9)

17 (5.0)

 50 − 64 years

689 (25.8)

481 (26.4)

208 (24.6)

642 (25.6)

47 (29.2)

619 (26.6)

70 (20.6)

 65 − 74 years

539 (20.2)

354 (19.5)

185 (21.9)

503 (20.1)

36 (22.4)

462 (19.9)

77 (22.6)

  ≥ 75 years

967 (36.3)

605 (33.2)

362 (42.8)

912 (36.4)

55 (34.2)

793 (34.1)

174 (51.2)

Sex

0.010

0.323

0.573

 Female

1218 (45.7)

800 (44.0)

418 (49.4)

1151 (45.9)

67 (41.6)

1068 (45.9)

150 (44.1)

 Male

1448 (54.3)

1020 (56.0)

428 (50.6)

1354 (54.1)

94 (58.4)

1258 (54.1)

190 (55.9)

BMI (kg/m²)

23.0 ± 4.8

23.3 ± 4.9

22.5 ± 4.5

 < 0.001

23.0 ± 4.7

23.5 ± 5.2

0.286

23.2 ± 4.8

21.6 ± 4.3

 < 0.001

Asian BMI level subgroup

0.011

0.526

 < 0.001

  < 18.5

327 (15.0)

202 (13.9)

125 (17.5)

302 (14.9)

25 (17.1)

267 (13.9)

60 (23.3)

 18.5 − 22.9

866 (39.9)

564 (38.7)

302 (42.2)

815 (40.2)

51 (34.9)

754 (39.4)

112 (43.6)

 23 − 24.9

353 (16.2)

246 (16.9)

107 (14.9)

325 (16.0)

28 (19.2)

310 (16.2)

43 (16.7)

  ≥ 25

627 (28.9)

445 (30.5)

182 (25.4)

585 (28.9)

42 (28.8)

585 (30.5)

42 (16.3)

Vital signs at triage

 Glasgow coma scale

12.4 ± 3.8

13.0 ± 3.4

11.0 ± 4.1

 < 0.001

12.5 ± 3.7

10.5 ± 4.7

 < 0.001

12.8 ± 3.5

9.6 ± 4.3

 < 0.001

 Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)

137.6 ± 34.7

140.3 ± 33.8

131.9 ± 35.8

 < 0.001

138.5 ± 34.2

123.2 ± 38.3

 < 0.001

139.5 ± 33.7

124.0 ± 38.1

 < 0.001

 Heart rate (beats/min)

105.9 ± 23.8

103.2 ± 23.0

111.8 ± 24.2

 < 0.001

105.5 ± 23.6

112.9 ± 25.6

0.001

105.2 ± 23.2

110.6 ± 27.0

0.001

 Respiratory rate (breaths/min)

20.2 ± 4.4

19.7 ± 3.9

21.2 ± 5.2

 < 0.001

20.0 ± 4.2

21.9 ± 6.1

 < 0.001

19.8 ± 4.0

22.3 ± 6.1

 < 0.001

 Body temperature (°C)

36.7 ± 0.9

36.6 ± 0.7

37.0 ± 1.1

 < 0.001

36.7 ± 0.9

36.7 ± 0.9

0.940

36.7 ± 0.9

36.8 ± 1.0

0.051

Bedridden

1604 (60.2)

963 (52.9)

641 (75.8)

 < 0.001

1475 (58.9)

129 (80.1)

 < 0.001

1306 (56.1)

298 (87.6)

 < 0.001

Nasogastric tub feeding

214 (8.0)

85 (4.7)

129 (15.2)

 < 0.001

177 (7.1)

37 (23.0)

 < 0.001

156 (6.7)

58 (17.1)

 < 0.001

Past histories

 Hypertension

1414 (53.0)

931 (51.2)

483 (57.1)

0.005

1340 (53.5)

74 (46.0)

0.076

1196 (51.4)

218 (64.1)

 < 0.001

 Hyperlipidemia

698 (26.2)

479 (26.3)

219 (25.9)

0.850

668 (26.7)

30 (18.6)

0.031

607 (26.1)

91 (26.8)

0.845

 Cerebrovascular accident

795 (29.8)

486 (26.7)

309 (36.5)

 < 0.001

749 (29.9)

46 (28.6)

0.788

664 (28.5)

131 (38.5)

 < 0.001

 Malignancy

379 (14.2)

252 (13.8)

127 (15.0)

0.458

349 (13.9)

30 (18.6)

0.124

276 (11.9)

103 (30.3)

 < 0.001

 Chronic kidney disease

305 (11.4)

198 (10.9)

107 (12.6)

0.204

283 (11.3)

22 (13.7)

0.431

258 (11.1)

47 (13.8)

0.165

Laboratory data

 Blood urea nitrogen (mg/dL)

48.7 (34.8)

44.8 (33.2)

56.5 (36.6)

 < 0.001

47.4 (33.6)

68.4 (45.1)

 < 0.001

45.7 (32.2)

68.7 (43.6)

 < 0.001

 White blood cell count (103/µL)

11.7 ± 6.0

10.9 ± 5.2

13.2 ± 7.2

 < 0.001

11.5 ± 5.9

13.7 ± 7.5

 < 0.001

11.8 ± 6.0

10.9 ± 6.0

0.016

 Serum creatinine (mg/dL)

1.9 ± 1.6

1.9 ± 1.6

2.0 ± 1.6

0.052

1.9 ± 1.6

2.2 ± 1.5

0.012

1.9 ± 1.6

2.0 ± 1.4

0.406

 Hemoglobin (g/dL)

12.8 ± 2.8

13.1 ± 2.8

12.3 ± 2.7

 < 0.001

12.8 ± 2.8

12.4 ± 2.9

0.039

13.0 ± 2.8

11.8 ± 2.8

 < 0.001

 Glucose (mg/dL)

430.7 ± 318.5

433.8 ± 313.9

424.1 ± 328.2

0.473

424.8 ± 309.9

521.2 ± 420.9

0.005

437.5 ± 315.8

384.2 ± 332.8

0.006

 hs-CRP (mg/L)

60.6 ± 84.4

39.7 ± 62.4

98.7 ± 103.9

 < 0.001

57.9 ± 81.8

98.2 ± 108.0

 < 0.001

58.5 ± 84.3

73.3 ± 83.8

0.004

Concomitant infection,

1247 (46.8)

539 (29.6)

708 (83.7)

 < 0.001

1145 (45.7)

102 (63.4)

 < 0.001

1021 (43.9)

226 (66.5)

 < 0.001

PHD score

1.9 ± 1.4

1.5 ± 1.3

2.8 ± 1.1

 < 0.001

1.9 ± 1.4

2.5 ± 1.5

 < 0.001

1.8 ± 1.3

2.9 ± 1.3

 < 0.001

PHD risk class

 < 0.001

 < 0.001

 < 0.001

 Low risk (Score 0–2)

1534 (65.0)

1224 (75.8)

310 (41.6)

1466 (66.0)

68 (48.6)

1430 (69.0)

104 (36.1)

 Intermediate risk (Score 3)

531 (22.5)

271 (16.8)

260 (34.9)

491 (22.1)

40 (28.6)

431 (20.8)

100 (34.7)

 High risk (Score ≥ 4)

296 (12.5)

120 (7.4)

176 (23.6)

264 (11.9)

32 (22.9)

212 (10.2)

84 (29.2)