The relationship between emergency department volume and patient complexity

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 366-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry Hahn ◽  
Batya Zuckerman ◽  
Milazim Durakovic ◽  
Seleshi Demissie
2021 ◽  
pp. 112067212199104
Author(s):  
Giuseppe D’Amico Ricci ◽  
Claudia Del Turco ◽  
Elena Belcastro ◽  
Marco Palisi ◽  
Mario R Romano ◽  
...  

Purpose: Although acute conjunctivitis has been listed from the beginning as a possible sign of COVID-19, the likelihood of this association remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between COVID-19 and conjunctivitis. Methods: In this retrospective, observational study, we recruited all patients with signs and symptoms of acute conjunctivitis seen at the Eye Emergency Department (ED), Turin Eye Hospital, between 01/01/2020 and 12/05/2020 and cross-checked our data with the Piedmont Region online COVID-19 registry in the same period. Results: Among 10,065 patients seen at our ED during the timespan considered, 88 underwent a nasopharyngeal swab (NS) for SARS-CoV-2 detection within 4 weeks before/after our examination. On average, NS was performed −0.72 ± 1.8 weeks before/after eye examination. Of the 77 patients with a negative NS, 26 (33.8%) had a diagnosis of acute conjunctivitis, whereas the remaining 51 (66.2%) had other eye disorders. Among the 11 patients with COVID-19, 7 (63,6%) had a diagnosis of acute conjunctivitis. We found a non-statistically significant increase in NS positivity rate (21.2%) among cases examined at our ED for acute conjunctivitis, compared to the NS positivity rate (7.3%) in patients examined for all other eye conditions ( p = 0.092). The Odds Ratio of having a positive NS in patients with acute conjunctivitis was 3.43 (95% I.C. = 0.9–12.8, p = 0.06). Considering online-registry data of Turin population during the same time-span, among 2441 positive NS cases only 27 (1.1%) presented with acute conjunctivitis. Conclusion: Our results do not reveal a statistically significant correlation between COVID-19 and acute conjunctivitis. Synopsis The present study analyzes retrospectively data from a tertiary eye referral center to investigate the relationship between COVID-19 infection and conjunctivitis.


Author(s):  
Hannah Masoud

Physicians who encounter patients in the emergency department with chest pain, palpitations, or shortness of breath may often find it difficult to differentiate diagnosis of panic attacks from acute coronary syndrome or Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy. Redefining and understanding the pathophysiological relationship of psychiatric illness including anxiety, depression, or panic attacks and Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy may help clinicians implement a more effective and beneficial model of care for this affliction that is being found to be increasingly more common in today’s age.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-67
Author(s):  
Sajjad Ahmadi ◽  
Niloufar Pouresmaeil ◽  
Farima Najjarian ◽  
Samad Shams Vahdati ◽  
Maryam Rahimpour Asenjan ◽  
...  

Objective: Emergency departments and hospital emergency departments are important due to their critical role in providing urgent medical care to patients in dire need of medical interventions. Checking bottlenecks in new conditions and planning to reduce bed occupancy and hospitalization is needed. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the patient’s chief complaint and their departure to the emergency room. Methods: From non-traumatic patients referred to the emergency department of Imam Reza Hospital during 2018, about 57000 patients were selected and enrolled in the study. Then, age, sex, initial diagnosis, time of the final decision, and time of departure from the emergency department as well as hospitalization ward were included in the checklist. Patients whose documentation was incomplete were excluded. Data were entered into SPSS software version 15.0 and descriptive statistics (normal distribution, average of time, minimum time and maximum time, confidence interval, mode, and median, etc) were used for descriptive analysis and linear regression was used to analyze the correlation among findings. Results: There was a significant relationship between chief complaint and the length of stay in the emergency department (P = 0.046) and patients with dyspnea due to heart disease, bloody vomit, bloody stool, constipation, jaundice, anemia, decreased level of consciousness, diabetes, complications of diabetes, shortness of breath and kidney injury stayed longer in the emergency room compared to other complaints. Conclusion: The patient’s manner of expressing and chief complaint has an impact on the length of time they wait to leave the emergency room. Also, most patients with problems related to internal medicine have the longest time in the emergency room; in particular gastrointestinal patients have the longest stay in the emergency room.


Author(s):  
Sharon L. Campbell ◽  
Tomas A. Remenyi ◽  
Grant J. Williamson ◽  
Christopher J. White ◽  
Fay H. Johnston

Heatwaves have been identified as a threat to human health, with this impact projected to rise in a warming climate. Gaps in local knowledge can potentially undermine appropriate policy and preparedness actions. Using a case-crossover methodology, we examined the impact of heatwave events on hospital emergency department (ED) presentations in the two most populous regions of Tasmania, Australia, from 2008–2016. Using conditional logistic regression, we analyzed the relationship between ED presentations and severe/extreme heatwaves for the whole population, specific demographics including age, gender and socio-economic advantage, and diagnostic conditions that are known to be impacted in high temperatures. ED presentations increased by 5% (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.01–1.09) across the whole population, by 13% (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.03–1.24) for children 15 years and under, and by 19% (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.04–1.36) for children 5 years and under. A less precise association in the same direction was found for those over 65 years. For diagnostic subgroups, non-significant increases in ED presentations were observed for asthma, diabetes, hypertension, and atrial fibrillation. These findings may assist ED surge capacity planning and public health preparedness and response activities for heatwave events in Tasmania, highlighting the importance of using local research to inform local practice.


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