142 Mental Health Emergency Department Visits: 24 Hours and Counting, Characteristics Associated With Prolonged Length of Stay

Background: Acute pyelonephritis is a bacterial infection of the upper urinary tract. Patients can be admitted to a variety of wards for treatment. However, at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong, they are managed initially in the emergency medicine ward. The aim of the study is to identify the risk factors that are associated with a prolonged hospital length of stay. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted in Prince of Wales Hospital. The study recruited patients who were admitted to the emergency medicine ward between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2017. These patients presented with clinical features of pyelonephritis, received antibiotic treatment and had a discharge diagnosis of pyelonephritis. The length of stay was measured and any length of stay over 72 h was considered to be prolonged. Results: There were 271 patients admitted to the emergency medicine ward, and 118 (44%) had a prolonged hospital length of stay. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that the only statistically significant predictor of prolonged length of stay was a raised C-reactive protein (odds ratio 1.01; 95% confidence 1.01–1.02; p < 0.0001). Out of 271 patients, 261 received antibiotics in the emergency department. All 10 patients (8.5%) who did not receive antibiotics in emergency department had a prolonged length of stay (p = 0.0002). Conclusion: In this series of acute pyelonephritis treated in the emergency medicine ward, raised C-reactive protein levels were predictive for prolonged length of stay. Patients who did not receive antibiotics in the emergency department prior to emergency medicine ward admission had prolonged length of stay.

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Emergency Department Visits for Mental Health Conditions Among US Children, 2001-2011

Clinical Pediatrics ◽

10.1177/0009922814541806 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 53 (14) ◽

pp. 1359-1366 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Alan E. Simon ◽

Kenneth C. Schoendorf

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Emergency Department ◽

Emergency Department Visits ◽

Health Issues ◽

White Children ◽

Mental Health Issues ◽

Health Related ◽

Care Survey ◽

Ambulatory Medical Care ◽

Us Children

We examined mental health–related visits to emergency departments (EDs) among children from 2001 to 2011. We used the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey—Emergency Department, 2001-2011 to identify visits of children 6 to 20 years old with a reason-for-visit code or ICD-9-CM diagnosis code reflecting mental health issues. National percentages of total visits, visit counts, and population rates were calculated, overall and by race, age, and sex. Emergency department visits for mental health issues increased from 4.4% of all visits in 2001 to 7.2% in 2011. Counts increased 55 000 visits per year and rates increased from 13.6 visits/1000 population in 2001 to 25.3 visits/1000 in 2011 ( P < .01 for all trends). Black children (all ages) had higher visit rates than white children and 13- to 20-year-olds had higher visit rates than children 6 to 12 years old ( P < .01 for all comparisons). Differences between groups did not decline over time.

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Prolonged Emergency Department Length of Stay as a Predictor of Adverse Outcomes in Patients with Intracranial Hemorrhage

Journal of Critical Care Medicine ◽

10.1155/2015/526319 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2015 ◽

pp. 1-5 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Erica M. Jones ◽

Amelia K. Boehme ◽

Aimee Aysenne ◽

Tiffany Chang ◽

Karen C. Albright ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Emergency Department ◽

Length Of Stay ◽

Adverse Outcome ◽

Independent Predictor ◽

Adverse Outcomes ◽

Stroke Patients ◽

Significant Independent Predictor ◽

Prolonged Length ◽

Stroke Center ◽

Shift Change

Objectives. Extended time in the emergency department (ED) has been related to adverse outcomes among stroke patients. We examined the associations of ED nursing shift change (SC) and length of stay in the ED with outcomes in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Methods. Data were collected on all spontaneous ICH patients admitted to our stroke center from 7/1/08–6/30/12. Outcomes (frequency of pneumonia, modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at discharge, NIHSS score at discharge, and mortality rate) were compared based on shift change experience and length of stay (LOS) dichotomized at 5 hours after arrival. Results. Of the 162 patients included, 60 (37.0%) were present in the ED during a SC. The frequency of pneumonia was similar in the two groups. Exposure to an ED SC was not a significant independent predictor of any outcome. LOS in the ED ≥5 hours was a significant independent predictor of discharge mRS 4–6 (OR 3.638, 95% CI 1.531–8.645, and P = 0.0034) and discharge NIHSS (OR 3.049, 95% CI 1.491–6.236, and P = 0.0023) but not death. Conclusions. Our study found no association between nursing SC and adverse outcome in patients with ICH but confirms the prior finding of worsened outcome after prolonged length of stay in the ED.

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