Analysis of cross-sectional survey for adult emergency patients in Tianjin

Abstract

Objective To show epidemiological characteristics of adult emergency patients and to provide data support for grading clinics. Methods Adult emergency patients (older than 14 years) from 50 hospitals in Tianjin were included. Name, gender and age of patients, as well as visiting time/department, chief complaint, severity of the disease, prognosis were considered to cross-sectional survey from 8: 00, 30 Aug 2016 to 8: 00, 31 Aug 2016. Chi-squared test, Fisher’s exact test, or t test was used to statistical analysis as appropriate. Results Of 6 569 patients, most originated from medical (n=3 964, 60.34%) and surgical (n=2 017, 30.31%). Patients’ average age was 46.90±18.70 (14-99) years old and there were more patients aged from 30 to 39 (n=1 285, 19.56%). Hospital crowded periods were between 8: 00-11: 00 and 17: 00-22: 00. In these periods, average number of patients was more than 300. Concerning the severity of disease, 83 patients(1.26%) were in grade 1 (the most severe cases), 301 patients(4.58%) in grade 2, 1 500 patients(22.83%) in grade 3, and 4 685 patients(71.33%) were in grade 4 (the less severe cases). Most ambulatory patient represented trauma (n=124, 35.23%), neurological (n=68, 19.32%) and cardiovascular (n=49, 13.92%) diseases. However, 50.57% of them were not considered urgent. Conclusions Most patients visited emergency department were non-urgent and originated from medical and surgical department in Tianjin. Crowded periods gathered at 8: 00-11: 00 and 17: 00-22: 00. Most ambulatory patients were trauma, neurological and cardiovascular disease; however, half of them was stable and need no emergency intervention. Key words: Adult emergency; Cross-section survey; Non-urgent patient; Grading clinics