Table 2.
Characteristics of Emergency Department Visits Made by Patients Admitted to the Palliative Care Service by Admission Preintegrated or Postintegrated Service Implementation
| Characteristic | Number of ED visits (%)
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Preintegration (January 1999 to June 2004) (n = 1750) | Postintegration (July 2004 to December 2005) (n = 283) | |
| Total ED visits (by unique patients) | ||
| 1 | 581 (61.7) | 110 (62.9) |
| 2 | 172 (18.3) | 41 (23.4) |
| 3 | 89 (9.5) | 16 (9.1) |
| 4 or more | 99 (10.5) | 8 (4.6) |
| Mean (standard deviation [SD]) | 1.9 (1.8) | 1.6 (1.1) |
| Median (range) | 1.0 (1–18) | 1.0 (1–8) |
| Day of week presenting to ED | ||
| Monday | 248 (14.2) | 32 (11.3) |
| Tuesday | 259 (14.8) | 43 (15.2) |
| Wednesday | 231 (13.2) | 35 (12.4) |
| Thursday | 235 (13.4) | 40 (14.1) |
| Friday | 250 (14.3) | 47 (16.6) |
| Saturday | 257 (14.7) | 32 (11.3) |
| Sunday | 270 (15.4) | 54 (19.1) |
| ED registration during weekend | ||
| Yes | 527 (30.1) | 86 (30.4) |
| No | 1223 (69.9) | 197 (69.6) |
| ED after-hours registration (17:00–7:59) | ||
| Yes | 851 (48.6) | 137 (48.4) |
| No | 899 (51.4) | 146 (51.6) |
| Mode of arrival to ED | ||
| Transport self | 120 (6.9) | 18 (6.4) |
| By a relative | 616 (35.2) | 96 (33.9) |
| Emergency medical care | 977 (55.9) | 159 (56.2) |
| Friend | 30 (1.7) | 7 (2.5) |
| Other/taxi/police | 5 (0.3) | 3 (1.1) |
| Major complainta,* | ||
| Shortness of breath | 387 (22.1) | 17 (6.0) |
| Abdominal pain | 169 (9.7) | 32 (11.3) |
| Pain (not abdominal) | 267 (15.3) | 34 (12.0) |
| Nausea/vomiting | 82 (4.7) | 14 (5.0) |
| Fever | 42 (2.4) | 11 (3.9) |
| Weakness/fatigue/malaise | 131 (7.5) | 21 (7.4) |
| Confusion/unconscious/dizzy | 84 (4.8) | 22 (7.8) |
| Blocked tubes (feeding/catheters/drains) | 68 (3.9) | 14 (5.0) |
| Bleeding | 83 (4.7) | 13 (4.6) |
| Falls/fractures/trauma/lacerations | 29 (1.7) | 9 (3.2) |
| Other | 408 (23.3) | 96 (33.9) |
| Diagnosis | ||
| Respiratory system | 330 (18.9) | 52 (18.4) |
| Neoplasms | 221 (12.6) | 20 (7.1) |
| Mental disorders | 14 (0.8) | 1 (0.4) |
| Circulatory system | 93 (5.3) | 10 (3.5) |
| Digestive system | 74 (4.2) | 7 (2.5) |
| Genitoruinary system | 63 (3.6) | 4 (1.4) |
| Musculoskeletal system | 56 (3.2) | 8 (2.8) |
| Injury and poisoning | 127 (7.3) | 21 (7.4) |
| General symptoms, ill defined | 358 (20.5) | 66 (23.3) |
| Other | 69 (3.9) | 11 (3.9) |
| Outcome | ||
| Admitted | 923 (52.7) | 151 (53.4) |
| Treatment completed/d/c/home | 721 (41.2) | 104 (36.8) |
| Treatment discontinued | 31 (1.8) | 7 (2.5) |
| Patient expired-died | 12 (0.7) | 2 (0.7) |
| Clinic appointment scheduled | 10 (0.6) | 1 (0.4) |
| Surgery required—sent to OR | 3 (0.2) | 2 (0.7) |
| Left against medical advice | 2 (0.1) | 0 (0.0) |
| Missing | 48 (2.7) | 16 (5.7) |
a
The complaint data filed was available only as free text to which category groupings were applied.
χ2 tests of association, Student’s t tests, or Wilcoxon rank sum scores:
*
p < 0.0001.
ED, emergency department; OR, odds ratio.