An Analysis of Emergency Treatment-seeking Characteristics in Elderly Patients in Taiwan in 2010

Abstract

The aim of this study was to understand the differences in demographic data and emergency department (ED) diagnosis between different age groups of patients. This study is based on data from the 2010 National Health Insurance Research Database published by the Taiwan National Health Research Institutes. We used descriptive statistics and bivariate statistical analysis to obtain the number of emergency visits in 2010. The main variables for analysis included demographic data and treatment-seeking characteristics, such as age, sex, marital status, International Classification of Diseases diagnostic code (International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification), and medical institutions. Data from the cohort sample of the 200,000 random samples taken from the health insurance beneficiary files of the National Health Insurance Research Database found a total 277,384 ED visits during 2010 after exclusion of unusual frequent ED users (hemophilia B or schizophrenia), 58,014(20.91%) of which were attributed to elderly patients. Female patients were predominantly in the elderly ED visits. The average cost of emergency medical expenses, number of ED visits, and subsequent hospitalization are significantly higher in elderly ED patients.