Gulacti Umut, Lok Ugur, Celik Murat, Aktas Nurettin, Polat Haci
Department of Emergency Medicine, Adiyaman University Faculty of Medicine, 02040 Adiyaman, Turkey.
Department of Urology, Adiyaman University Faculty of Medicine, 02040 Adiyaman, Turkey.
Turk J Emerg Med. 2016 Oct 14;16(4):141-145. doi: 10.1016/j.tjem.2016.08.004. eCollection 2016 Dec.
To evaluate the use of the emergency department (ED) by elderly patients, their non-urgent visits and the prevalence of main disease for ED visits.
This cross-sectional study was conducted on patients aged 65 years and over who visited the ED of a tertiary care university hospital in Turkey between January 2015 and January 2016 retrospectively.
A total of 36,369 elderly patients who visited the ED were included in the study. The rate of ED visits by elderly patients was higher than their representation within the general population (p < 0.001). While the rate of elderly patients visiting polyclinics was 15.8%, the rate of elderly patients visiting the ED was 24.3% (p < 0.001). For both genders, the rates of ED visits for patients between 65 and 74 years old was higher than for other elderly age groups (p < 0.001). The prevalence of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) was the highest within the elderly population (17.5%, CI: 17.1-17.9). The proportion of ED visits for non-urgent conditions was 23.4%. Most of the ED visits were during the non-business hours (51.1%), and they were highest in the winter season (25.9%) and in January (10.2%). The hospitalization rate was 9.4%, and 37.9% of hospitalized patients were admitted to intensive care units.
The proportion of ED visits by elderly patients was higher than their representation within the general population. Elderly patients often visited the ED instead of a polyclinic. The rate of inappropriate ED use by elderly patients in this hospital was higher than in other countries.
评估老年患者对急诊科（ED）的利用情况、他们的非紧急就诊情况以及急诊就诊的主要疾病患病率。
这项横断面研究对2015年1月至2016年1月期间在土耳其一家三级护理大学医院急诊科就诊的65岁及以上患者进行了回顾性研究。
共有36369名到急诊科就诊的老年患者纳入研究。老年患者的急诊就诊率高于其在普通人群中的占比（p < 0.001）。老年患者看门诊的比例为15.8%，而看急诊的比例为24.3%（p < 0.001）。对于男女两性，65至74岁患者的急诊就诊率均高于其他老年年龄组（p < 0.001）。上呼吸道感染（URTI）在老年人群中的患病率最高（17.5%，CI：17.1 - 17.9）。非紧急情况的急诊就诊比例为23.4%。大多数急诊就诊发生在非工作时间（51.1%），冬季（25.9%）和1月（10.2%）的就诊率最高。住院率为9.4%，37.9%的住院患者被收入重症监护病房。
老年患者的急诊就诊比例高于其在普通人群中的占比。老年患者常去急诊科而非门诊。该医院老年患者不适当使用急诊科的比例高于其他国家。
