Geographic disparities in the risk of perforated appendicitis among children in Ohio: 2001–2003

Table 2 Patient Characteristics and Perforation Rates in OHA Hospitals

	Characteristic	n	Perforation %	sig.
Age & Sex	All	8086	25.5
	Females 2–4	101	58.4
	Females 5–9	550	30.5
	Females 10–14	1095	26.8
	Females 15–19	1548	14.7
	Males 2–4	91	56.0
	Males 5–9	839	34.8
	Males 10–14	1813	28.5
	Males 15–19	2049	22.3	p < 0.001
Insurance	Self	705	26.7
	Medicaid	1460	27.7
	Blue Cross Primary	840	26.7
	HMO	1170	19.7
	PPO	650	26.3
	Medicaid HMO	223	34.5
	Blue Cross HMO	101	16.8
	Other	523	32.9
	Private	2414	24.1	p < 0.001
Comorbidities	No other infection	7547	22.6
	Other infection	539	66.6	p < 0.001
	No other digestive disease	7299	23.7
	Other digestive disease	787	42.6	p < 0.001
	No digestive congenital anomaly	8026	25.6
	Digestive congenital anomaly	60	16.7	p = 0.072
	Females not pregnant	3018	24.2
	Females pregnant	276	6.9	p < 0.001
Patient & Hospital Combination	Non-rural ZIP to Urban Hospital	5986	26.0
	Non-rural ZIP to Large Town Hospital	1483	24.3
	Non-rural ZIP to Small Town Hospital	407	21.4
	Rural-UA to Urban Hospital	24	45.8
	Rural-UA to Large Town Hospital	9	44.4
	Rural-UA to Small Town Hospital	7	28.6
	Rural-UC to Urban Hospital	23	34.8
	Rural-UC to Large Town Hospital	34	35.3
	Rural-UC to Small Town Hospital	113	23.0	p = 0.050
	Children's Hospital	2052	34.9
	Other hospital	6034	22.4	p < 0.001

ISSN: 1476-072X