Hospital Proximity and Emergency Department Use among Assisted Living Residents

Distances to emergency departments and non-urgent utilization of medical services: a systematic review

“…Details on study characteristics are provided in Table 2 . With the exception of five studies [ 10 , 15 , 37 , 38 , 40 ], all reviewed studies were cross-sectional in nature. Seven studies collected primary data [ 5 , 30–32 , 34 , 35 , 39 ] while eight studies relied on secondary data [ 9 , 10 , 15 , 33 , 36–38 , 40 ].…”

“…With the exception of five studies [ 10 , 15 , 37 , 38 , 40 ], all reviewed studies were cross-sectional in nature. Seven studies collected primary data [ 5 , 30–32 , 34 , 35 , 39 ] while eight studies relied on secondary data [ 9 , 10 , 15 , 33 , 36–38 , 40 ]. All studies were published between 1978 and 2023, and conducted in North America (USA [ 10 , 15 , 30 , 34 , 37 , 40 ] and Canada [ 39 ]), Europe (Italy [ 9 , 35 ], Belgium [ 32 ], Germany [ 33 ], Portugal [ 38 ], France [ 5 ], Turkey [ 31 ]), and Korea [ 36 ].…”

“…Seven studies collected primary data [ 5 , 30–32 , 34 , 35 , 39 ] while eight studies relied on secondary data [ 9 , 10 , 15 , 33 , 36–38 , 40 ]. All studies were published between 1978 and 2023, and conducted in North America (USA [ 10 , 15 , 30 , 34 , 37 , 40 ] and Canada [ 39 ]), Europe (Italy [ 9 , 35 ], Belgium [ 32 ], Germany [ 33 ], Portugal [ 38 ], France [ 5 ], Turkey [ 31 ]), and Korea [ 36 ]. All the studies examined the role of distance on the utilization of non-urgent services in the ED.…”

“…A variety of methods were used to identify non-urgent visits across the fifteen studies. Six studies used an algorithm, such as the New York University – Emergency Department Algorithm (NYU-EDA) [ 10 , 37 , 40 ], the Manchester Triage System Algorithm [ 33 , 38 ], or the Pediatric Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (PCTAS) [ 31 ], to define and select non-urgent ED visits. One study used primary diagnosis codes to define non-traumatic dental conditions seen in the ED [ 15 ].…”

“… 2) Over 54% of those who assessed their problem to be non-urgent resided within 3 miles of the hospital 3) The effect of distance on ED use for all visits was negative and significant (β=-0.477 SE = 0.2796]. None McGarry et al US, 2023 [ 40 ] Cohort/longitudinal adult ecological study To examine the relationship between distance to the nearest hospital and Assisted Living (AL) residents’ rate of ED use. 2018–2019 Treat and release ED visits among Medicare beneficiaries aged ≥55 years residing in AL communities spending at least 7 days in 2018 or 2019.…”