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    Frequent attenders at emergency departments: a linked-data population study of adult patients

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Jelinek, G.
    Jiwa, Moyez
    Gibson, N.
    Lynch, A.
    Date
    2008
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Jelinek, George and Jiwa, Moyez and Gibson, Nicholas and Lynch, Ann-maree. 2008. Frequent attenders at emergency departments: a linked-data population study of adult patients. Medical Journal of Australia 189 (10): pp. 552-556.
    Source Title
    Medical Journal of Australia
    Additional URLs
    http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/189_10_171108/jel10469_fm.html
    ISSN
    0025 729X
    Faculty
    Faculty of Health Sciences
    Nursing and Midwifery
    Western Australian Centre for Cancer and Palliative Care (WACCP)
    School
    WA Centre for Cancer and Palliative Care (WACCPC)
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18770
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Objectives: To examine the characteristics of adult patient attendances to emergency departments (EDs) in Perth hospitals by patients' frequency of attendance. Design, setting and participants: A linked-data population study of adults (aged = 15 years) attending all nine Perth hospital EDs between 1 July 2000 and 31 December 2006. Main outcome measures: Proportion of frequent attenders (FAs; those attending five or more times annually); and demographic characteristics, mode of arrival at the ED, disposition (admission, transfer, discharge or death), urgency and clinical conditions by frequency of attendance. Results: There was a mean of 1.5 attendances per individual per year, resulting in 1 583 924 attendances by 663 309 individuals over the 6.5 years of the study. Most patients (97.6%) attended Perth EDs fewer than five times a year. The more frequently patients attended, the more likely they were to be male, middle-aged and late-middle-aged, have self-referred, have mental and behavioural disorders and alcohol intoxication, to not wait to be assessed, and to arrive by ambulance. The groups of patients attending between 5-9 and 10-19 times per year (97.4% of FAs) had more urgent conditions, more circulatory system disease and higher admission rates than all other patients. Conclusion: Most FAs at Perth EDs present fewer than 20 times a year and have more serious and urgent illness than other patients, more often requiring inpatient services. A very small minority of patients (around 100 patients/year) attends 20 or more times a year, many with mental and behavioural disorders and alcohol intoxication not requiring hospital admission.

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