Seven-year evolution of discharge diagnoses of emergency department users.

OBJECTIVES

To describe the pattern of main diagnoses of persons discharged home from the emergency department.

METHODS

This was a descriptive study, using data from computer records of the emergency department at Landspitali University Hospital Hringbraut in Reykjavik, Iceland, over a 7-year period, 1995-2001. The main diagnoses of those discharged were registered according to the International Classification of Diseases and were transferred to the European shortlist, 'main categories'. Changes in the pattern of discharge diagnoses during the study period (1995-2001) were analyzed by calculating chi for the linear trend in each category.

RESULTS

The proportion of users discharged each year increased through the period. In 1995, 54.5% were sent home (not admitted to hospital) and in 2001, 72.5%. Diagnoses in the diagnostic category 'symptoms, signs, abnormal findings, and ill-defined causes', were the most frequently applied to both men and women; this was the classification in more than 20% of cases on average. The most significant change during the study period was the increase in frequency of this category among both men and women.

CONCLUSIONS

The proportion of emergency-department users, who are discharged without admission to hospital, increased and exceeded 70% of total cases received. On average, 20% of the discharge diagnoses were in the category 'symptoms, signs, abnormal findings, and ill-defined causes'. The pattern of discharge diagnoses can be assumed to reflect an increased load on the emergency department.