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Frequent users of the emergency department services in the largest academic hospital in the Netherlands: a 5-year report
- Source :
- European Journal of Emergency Medicine, 24(2), 130-135. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
- Publication Year :
- 2017
- Publisher :
- Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2017.
-
Abstract
- To investigate the demographic and service characteristics, motive for consultation, and disposition of adult frequent users (FUs) of the largest academic hospital in the Netherlands over a 5-year period.This retrospective study included all patients aged 18 years and older visiting the emergency department (ED) during a 5-year period (2009-2013). Frequent ED use was defined as having four or more visits to the ED during a year. Patient and service characteristics, motive for consultation, and disposition were explored.Frequent ED users represented 2% of all patients who visited the ED during 2009-2013 (8% of all ED consultations). On average, each FU visited the ED five times per year. Compared with nonfrequent users (NFUs), FUs were significantly less often self-referred, less frequently transported to the hospital by ambulance, received a lower urgency code upon arrival to the ED, and more often admitted to hospital than NFUs. Complaints related to the digestive system (19%), general complaints such as fever (18%), respiratory (10%), or cardiovascular problems (10%) were the main motive for consultations of the frequent ED users. Two percent of the FUs were serial FUs (FUs during 3 or more consecutive years).Frequent use of the ED has been depicted as inappropriate use of these services. However, our study shows that FUs consist of a relatively small number of patients and that FUs suffer from chronic, and often, severe somatic illnesses that require specialized medical care.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
medicine.medical_specialty
Alternative medicine
MEDLINE
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Risk Factors
Medicine
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
Aged
Netherlands
Retrospective Studies
Service (business)
Academic Medical Centers
business.industry
Public health
030208 emergency & critical care medicine
Retrospective cohort study
Emergency department
Middle Aged
Hospitalization
Family medicine
Emergency medicine
Emergency Medicine
business
Emergency Service, Hospital
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14735695 and 09699546
- Volume :
- 24
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- European Journal of Emergency Medicine
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....0ef2b21810be12e5bf42736933d112fd