Association Between Mortality and Phone-Line Waiting Time for Non-Urgent Medical Care in Denmark

Introduction: This study investigates whether waiting times for a medical helpline are associated with mortality rates at 1 and 30 days. Methods: Using data from 2014 to 2018 from the Capital Region of Denmark’s medical helpline, researchers conducted a registry-based cohort analysis. This helpline offers hospital referrals, ambulance dispatch, or self-care advice. Calls were grouped by waiting times: <30 seconds, 0:30–2:59, 3–9:59, and ≥10 minutes, aligned with regional service targets. Logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between waiting times and mortality, controlling for age and sex. Results: The study included 1,244,252 callers who made a total of 3,956,243 calls. Notably, 78% of calls were answered within 10 minutes. Overall, 30-day mortality across all callers was 1% (16,560 deaths). Findings revealed that longer waiting times correlated with higher mortality rates, particularly within the first minute. Among women aged 85–110, 30-day mortality was 9.6% for calls answered in under 30 seconds, rising to 10.8% between 30 seconds and 1 minute, and then slightly dropping to 9.1% for 1–2 minutes. Men in this age group showed similar trends, with mortality increasing from 11.1% (under 30 seconds) to 12.9% (30 seconds to 1 minute). For individuals with high comorbidity (Charlson score ≥2), longer waiting times were similarly linked to higher mortality. Ambulance dispatch rates also declined as waiting times increased, from 4% of calls answered in under 30 seconds to 2% for calls waiting over 10 minutes. Conclusion: The study concludes that longer helpline waiting times are linked with increased mortality, especially within the first minute for elderly and high-comorbidity callers. This suggests the importance of minimizing waiting times to improve health outcomes.