Patients Attending Emergency Departments

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Health Services Research
• Patient Behavior

Background:

• Emergency departments (EDs) face rising patient numbers, with a significant increase in those not requiring urgent care.
• Characterizing non-urgent ED patients is crucial for understanding healthcare utilization patterns.
• Sociodemographic features, health status, and reasons for attendance are key factors to analyze.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize patients presenting to emergency departments who do not require urgent treatment.
• To identify sociodemographic factors, health status, and specific reasons associated with non-urgent ED visits.
• To understand the drivers behind the increasing number of non-urgent cases in emergency care.

Main Methods:

• The PiNo Nord study employed a cross-sectional observational design over two working weeks in five hospitals.
• Data collection involved personal interviews with patients and documentation of medical diagnoses.
• Multivariate logistic regressions within mixed multilevel models were used for data analysis, identifying predictors of perceived urgency.

Main Results:

• 1175 patients were studied; 54.7% reported low treatment urgency.
• Musculoskeletal trauma (OR 2.18), skin conditions (OR 2.15), and primary care physician unavailability (OR 1.70) were strong predictors of low urgency.
• Patients attended EDs on their own initiative (41.3%), referred by primary care (17.0%), or by specialists (8.0%).

Conclusions:

• More than half of ED patients do not perceive their condition as a medical emergency.
• Reasons for ED visits are multifactorial, including perceived urgency, structural barriers, and patient preferences.
• Findings suggest a need to address patient perceptions and access to primary care to optimize ED resource allocation.