Procedures exceeding wait times, by patient characteristics and priority level*
| Characteristic | No. (%)† | Priority 4 n = 124 545 (9.0) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall n = 174 633 (12.60) | Priority 3 n = 50 088 (3.6) | ||
| Age category, yr | |||
| 18–49 | 23 066 (7.5) | 11 315 (14.3) | 11 751 (5.1) |
| 50–59 | 23 965 (10.5) | 8631 (17.0) | 15 334 (8.7) |
| 60–69 | 47 031 (13.9) | 12 482 (22.1) | 34 549 (12.3) |
| 70–79 | 55 377 (15.7) | 12 226 (25.9) | 43 151 (14.1) |
| ≥ 80 | 25 194 (15.8) | 5434 (26.3) | 19 760 (14.2) |
| Sex | |||
| Female | 106 899 (12.8) | 31 793 (20.5) | 75 106 (11.0) |
| Male | 67 734 (12.4) | 18 295 (18.5) | 49 439 (11.0) |
| Rural residence‡ | |||
| No | 147 823 (12.2) | 42 937 (19.7) | 104 886 (10.6) |
| Yes | 26 810 (15.2) | 7151 (19.7) | 19 659 (14.0) |
| Region | |||
| Eastern | 33 789 (13.4) | 9243 (18.8) | 24 546 (12.1) |
| GTHA | 54 205 (10.8) | 18 903 (19.9) | 35 302 (8.7) |
| Toronto | 19 286 (8.8) | 5793 (13.8) | 13 493 (7.6) |
| Western Ontario | 51 979 (16.9) | 11 522 (23.4) | 40 457 (15.7) |
| Northern Ontario | 15 374 (14.7) | 4627 (24.6) | 10 747 (12.5) |
| Comorbidity score category§ | |||
| 0–4 | 32 161 (13.0) | 8954 (19.4) | 23 207 (11.5) |
| 5–6 | 37 689 (12.8) | 10 881 (19.8) | 26 808 (11.2) |
| 7–8 | 38 198 (12.5) | 11 201 (19.7) | 26 997 (10.8) |
| 9–10 | 30 318 (12.4) | 8779 (19.6) | 21 539 (10.8) |
| ≥ 11 | 36 267 (12.4) | 10 273 (20.0) | 25 994 (10.8) |
| Hospital type¶ | |||
| Non-teaching | 123 093 (11.7) | 39 358 (18.8) | 83 735 (9.9) |
| Teaching | 51 540 (15.6) | 10 730 (24.2) | 40 810 (14.3) |
| Year | |||
| 2013 | 16 397 (10.4) | 6766 (18.9) | 9631 (7.9) |
| 2014 | 19 830 (10.0) | 7101 (16.5) | 12 729 (8.2) |
| 2015 | 22 244 (11.2) | 6833 (17.3) | 15 411 (9.7) |
| 2016 | 27 213 (13.3) | 7857 (21.0) | 19 356 (11.6) |
| 2017 | 30 118 (14.6) | 7428 (22.5) | 22 690 (13.1) |
| 2018 | 29 852 (14.2) | 7212 (21.6) | 22 640 (12.8) |
| 2019 | 28 979 (13.8) | 6891 (21.6) | 22 088 (12.4) |
| Procedure | |||
| Cataract | 81 537 (14.9) | 11 106 (29.1) | 70 431 (13.8) |
| Knee arthroplasty | 37 756 (23.9) | 12 762 (40.1) | 24 994 (19.8) |
| Hip arthroplasty | 18 607 (20.4) | 6722 (34.5) | 11 885 (16.6) |
| Arthroscopy (knee) | 10 632 (7.2) | 5158 (14.9) | 5474 (4.9) |
| Cholecystectomy | 4398 (3.6) | 2773 (6.2) | 1625 (2.1) |
| Inguinal hernia | 4703 (4.8) | 2533 (8.2) | 2170 (3.2) |
| Benign uterine** | 17 000 (7.6) | 9034 (16.5) | 7966 (4.7) |
Note: GTHA = Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
↵* The Wait Time Information System classifies procedure priority level. Level 1 is the most urgent, requiring immediate transfer to the operating room. This is followed by levels 2, 3 and 4, requiring urgent, semi-urgent and elective surgical intervention. The target wait time for level 3 is 84 days or fewer, and for level 4, 182 days or fewer.
↵† Percentage refers to the percent of procedures exceeding wait time divided by the total number of procedures by patient characteristic and priority level.
↵‡ Rural residence includes residences in all territories lying outside population centres with more than 10 000 residents. Regions defined as per Canada Post Corporation.
↵§ Comorbidity score category: sum of Aggregated Diagnosis Groups. Estimated using Aggregated Diagnosis Groups calculated with The Johns Hopkins ACG System version 10 software, based on subjects’ health care utilization records in the Discharge Abstract Database, Same Day Surgery Database and Ontario Health Insurance Plan database.
↵¶ Teaching Status: teaching hospitals are those classified as Group A under the Public Hospitals Act. (13)
↵** Benign uterine disease requiring surgical treatment consists of a mixture of hysterectomy (28%), hysteroscopic endometrial ablation (16%) and other benign diseases (56%). “Other benign diseases” is primarily composed of resection of endometrial polyps, myomectomy and adhesion lysis.