Frequent attenders at emergency departments: a linked-data population study of adult patients
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 betw...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Australasian Medical Publishing Company
2008
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| Online Access: | http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/189_10_171108/jel10469_fm.html http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18770 |
| _version_ | 1848749840350052352 |
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| author | Jelinek, G. Jiwa, Moyez Gibson, N. Lynch, A. |
| author_facet | Jelinek, G. Jiwa, Moyez Gibson, N. Lynch, A. |
| author_sort | Jelinek, G. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:27:20Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-18770 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:27:20Z |
| publishDate | 2008 |
| publisher | Australasian Medical Publishing Company |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-187702017-01-30T12:09:53Z Frequent attenders at emergency departments: a linked-data population study of adult patients Jelinek, G. Jiwa, Moyez Gibson, N. Lynch, A. 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. 2008 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18770 http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/189_10_171108/jel10469_fm.html Australasian Medical Publishing Company restricted |
| spellingShingle | Jelinek, G. Jiwa, Moyez Gibson, N. Lynch, A. Frequent attenders at emergency departments: a linked-data population study of adult patients |
| title | Frequent attenders at emergency departments: a linked-data population study of adult patients |
| title_full | Frequent attenders at emergency departments: a linked-data population study of adult patients |
| title_fullStr | Frequent attenders at emergency departments: a linked-data population study of adult patients |
| title_full_unstemmed | Frequent attenders at emergency departments: a linked-data population study of adult patients |
| title_short | Frequent attenders at emergency departments: a linked-data population study of adult patients |
| title_sort | frequent attenders at emergency departments: a linked-data population study of adult patients |
| url | http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/189_10_171108/jel10469_fm.html http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18770 |