Dynamic changes of emergency visits: a retrospective observational study

Abstract

Background With more emergency visits, there is increasing pressure to provide emergency medical services globally and locally. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological characteristics and the disease spectrum of patients presenting in the last three years to the Department of Emergency Medicine of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, a tertiary hospital in Tianjin, China, to improve the services of the emergency medicine department. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on all patients in the Department of Emergency Medicine of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital from Jan 1, 2017, 00:00:00 to Dec 31, 2020, 23:59:59, including variables like medical record number, gender, age, date of admission, principal diagnosis. The data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software; statistical charts were prepared by GraphPad Prism9.0 and SPSS 20.0; statistical tables were made by Microsoft Excel. Results A total of 1,314,916 patients presented to the Department of Emergency Medicine of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital from Jan 1, 2017, 00:00:00 to Dec 31, 2020, 23:59:59. In terms of gender distribution, the male–female ratio was 0.78∶1. As for age distribution, patients aged 60–69 were the most (23.47%), and patients younger than 20 years were the least (2.80%). Concerning monthly data, the number of visits peaked during January and December. The distribution of daily visits showed the feature of three highs and a low. The top three prevalence diseases in the emergency disease spectrum were respiratory, cardiovascular, and digestive diseases. The respiratory system was the most common in patients with infectious diseases (200,912, accounting for 86.97%). Among the patients suffering from infectious diseases, the number of patients with respiratory infections peaked in 2019 (73,530) and was the lowest in 2020 (20,078). Conclusions From 2017 to 2019, the demand for emergency services in Tianjin Medical University General Hospital continued to increase, but it was greatly affected by COVID-19 in 2020. This emergency department is mainly for patients with respiratory system, circulatory system and digestive system diseases, and its treatment time is relatively centralized. The prevention of diseases for people of all ages, especially female patients and the elderly, should be strengthened, and emergency medical resources should be allocated reasonably according to the peak months and crowed periods of patients.

Relationship between patient-perceived quality of primary care and self-reported hospital utilisation in China: A cross-sectional study

“…Alternatively, patients bear the charges out-of-pocket [ 13 ]. Despite these efforts, the current absence of a compulsory gatekeeping system allows patients to choose medical practitioners and institutions directly, raising concerns about overutilisation and unnecessary ED visits even for minor ailments [ 14 ].…”

Effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic on short‐term postoperative outcomes for colorectal perforation: A nationwide study in Japan based on the National Clinical Database

“…Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) began in Wuhan, China and spread rapidly worldwide, resulting in a pandemic 1 . The COVID‐19 outbreak also had many effects on medical practice, including patients fearing infection and not attending clinic visits and cancer screening 2,3 . Additionally, health facilities were required to treat COVID‐19 patients and consequently had reduced staff for other care, fewer inpatient beds, and withheld nonurgent care except for COVID‐19, resulting in discontinuation or postponement of some surgeries 4,5 .…”