EVALUATION OF THE FREQUENT APPLICATIONS TO AN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT: A 1-YEAR REVIEW

Öz

Objective: Frequent use of emergency departments is an important problem that leads to decreased service quality and increased health costs in these departments. In the present study, the purpose was to analyze the demographic and clinical characteristics of “frequent users’ in applications to emergency departments. Material and Methods: In the study, the records of patients, who were aged 18 years and older and who applied to the emergency department of a university hospital in 2016, were analyzed retrospectively. Those who applied to the emergency department between 4 and 9 times were defined as “Low ED Users’, and those who applied for 10 or more were defined as “High ED Users’. Results: In 1 year, a total of 86.287 applications were made to the emergency department by 54.258 patients, during which 5.26% (n=2859) of those who applied to the emergency department applied 4-9 times (Low ED Users) and 0.29% (n=162) applied 10 or more times (High ED Users). Applications made by frequent users (n=16.277) constituted 18.8% of all applications in a year. The most common reason for frequent users’ admission was upper respiratory tract infections and 44.3% of the frequent user referrals were young patients who were under the age of 30. It was found that the patients in the High ED Users group underwent more examination and treatment than the Low ED Users group, and the hospitalization rates were higher in the High ED Users group (p<0.001). Conclusion: “Frequent applications” are made more by young individuals who are under the age of 30 and consist of health problems that do not require emergency care in general. This especially increases the need for medical resources.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Emergency medicine
• frequent admission
• frequent users

Bir Üniversite Hastanesi Acil Servisine Yapılan Sık Başvuruların Değerlendirilmesi: Bir Yıllık İnceleme

Öz

Amaç: Sık kullanım, acil servislerde hizmet kalitesinin düşmesine ve sağlık giderlerinin artmasına yol açan önemli bir sorundur. Çalışmada, acil servislere yapılan başvurularda ‘sık kullanıcıların’ demografik ve klinik özelliklerinin analiz edilmesi hedeflendi. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Çalışmada bir üniversite hastanesi acil servisine, 2016 yılı içerisinde 18 yaş ve üzerindeki hastalar tarafından yapılan başvurulara ait kayıtlar retrospektif olarak incelendi. Sık kullanıcılardan, 4-9 arasında acil servis başvurusu yapanlar “Acil Servisi Az Kullananlar”, 10 ve daha fazla sayıda başvuru yapanlar ise “Acil Servisi Çok Kullananlar” olarak nitelendirildi. Bulgular: Bir yıllık dönemde acil servise 54.258 hasta tarafından 86.287 başvuru yapıldı. Bu dönemde acil servise başvuranların %5.26’sı (n=2.859) 4-9 kez (Acil Servisi Az Kullananlar), %0.29’u (n=162) ise 10 ve daha fazla kez (Acil Servisi Çok Kullananlar) başvurdu. Sık kullanıcıların yaptığı başvurular (n=16.277), bir yıl içinde yapılan tüm başvuruların %18.8’ini oluşturuyordu. Sık kullanıcıların en sık başvuru nedeni üst solunum yolu enfeksiyonları idi. Sık kullanıcı başvurularının %44.3’ü 30 yaş altı genç hastalardı. “Acil Servisi Çok Kullananlar” grubundaki hastalara “Acil Servisi Az Kullananlar” grubuna oranla daha fazla tetkik ve tedavi işlemi uygulandığı ve hastaneye yatış oranlarının “Acil Servisi Çok Kullananlar” grubunda daha yüksek olduğu belirlendi (p<0.001). Sonuç: Sık başvurular özellikle 30 yaş altı genç bireyler tarafından daha fazla yapılmaktadır. Acil servislere yapılan ‘sık başvurular’ genel anlamda acil bakım gerektirmeyen sağlık sorunlarından oluşmaktadır. Bu durum özellikle tıbbi kaynak ihtiyacını da arttırmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Acil Tıp
• sık başvuru
• sık başvuranlar

Kaynakça

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