Determinant of the Frequency of Short-Term Undesirable Events in Diabetes Discharged from the Emergency Department

Abstract

Correction of hyperglycemia in these patients with nonemergency hyperglycemia is controversial. This study aims to reveal the effect of plasma glucose level and other factors (diabetes type, insulin dependence, age, and gender) on the frequency of revisits to the emergency department (ED) and hospitalization of diabetic patients discharged from the ED. Diabetic patients over the age of 18 who applied to the emergency department were included in the prospective, cross-sectional study. All data of patients who applied to the ED were recorded by the physician providing the patient’s care. There was no statistically significant difference in mean plasma glucose levels of patients who had revisits to the ED and were hospitalized (7–30 days, \(p>0.05\)). In hyperglycemic (\(n\): 104) and normoglycemic (\(n\): 125) DM patients, no significant difference was found in terms of frequency of revisit to the ED and hospitalization (respectively, revisit and hospitalization within 7 and 30 days/\(p=0.738\), 0.805, 0.130, and 0.697). When we evaluated the outcomes of revisit to the ED and hospitalization, it was found that the frequency of revisits within 7 and 30 days and hospitalization within 7 days increased significantly in IDDM patients (Table 3). Other factors such as gender, age, admission glucose level, and diabetes type were not found to be effective. In nonemergency hyperglycemic patients admitted to the emergency department, blood plasma glucose levels are not determinative in ED revisits and hospitalizations. However, the management and follow-up of IDDM patients should be done more carefully.