Supervisors info:
Ιακωβίδου Νικολέττα, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ, Επιβλέπουσα
Ξάνθος Θεόδωρος, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, Ευρωπαϊκό Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου
Χαλκιάς Αθανάσιος, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλίας
Summary:
Introduction: The emergency department (ED) is overcrowded, resulting in reduced quality of service, increased patient dissatisfaction, increased mortality and high rates of medical errors.
Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the percentage of patients visiting the ED and were not need admitted to.
Methodology: This was a retrospective recording study. The sample was randomized and consisted of 618 patients. All patients under the age of 16, those who admitted and died were excluded.
Results: The annual visits of ED were 63.227 patients in 2016 and 62.667 patients in 2017. Totally, 8.2% of patients in 2016 and 9.3% in 2017 admitted to hospital, while the other transferred to another hospital 0.22% and 0.23% respectively. Patients were examined by surgeons, orthopedists, urologists, physicians and cardiologists. The most common causes of visit to ED were traumatic injuries, abdominal pain, gastroenteritis, arthritis, pain of the kidney, joint injury, back pain, fall, neck pain, no specific chest pain, pulse sensation, fever, urinary tract infection and arterial hypertension. About 20% of patients underwent hematologic testing and 11.2% radiological testing. The main interventions made concerning administration of medication (53.8%), suture wounds (15.5%), electrocardiogram (9.2%), and wound care (5.9%).
Conclusions: In the present study, approximately 9% of the patients examined in ED was admitted to the hospital, while 91% discharged after some interventions. The ED does not provide only emergency services, as should, but also provides primary health care services.
Keywords:
Emergency Department, Patients, Admission, Discharge, Primary health care
