Abstract
BackgroundOveruse of emergency departments (ED) is of concern in Western society and it is often referred to as 'inappropriate' use. This phenomenon may compromise efficient use of health care personnel, infrastructure and financial resources of the ED. To redirect patients, an extensive knowledge of the experiences and attitudes of patients and their choice behaviour is necessary. The aim of this study is to quantify the patients and socio-economical determinants for choosing the general practitioner (GP) on call or the ED.MethodsData collection was conducted simultaneously in 4 large cities in Belgium. All patients who visited EDs or used the services of the GP on call during two weekends in January 2005 were enrolled in the study in a prospective manner. We used semi-structured questionnaires to interview patients from both services.Results1611 patient contacts were suitable for further analysis. 640 patients visited the GP and 971 went to the ED. Determinants that associated with the choice of the ED are: being male, having visited the ED during the past 12 months at least once, speaking another language than Dutch or French, being of African (sub-Saharan as well as North African) nationality and no medical insurance. We also found that young men are more likely to seek help at the ED for minor trauma, compared to women.ConclusionsPatients tend to seek help at the service they are acquainted with. Two populations that distinctively seek help at the ED for minor medical problems are people of foreign origin and men suffering minor trauma. Aiming at a redirection of patients, special attention should go to these patients. Informing them about the health services' specific tasks and the needlessness of technical examinations for minor trauma, might be a useful intervention.
Highlights
Overuse of emergency departments (ED) is of concern in Western society and it is often referred to as ‘inappropriate’ use
Reasons for refusal were documented in 27 (0.07%) cases: patient died (n = 2), the patient is an unaccompanied child (n = 19) or the patient was not able to participate (n = 6). 1611 patient contacts were suitable for further analysis, 640 in the general practitioner (GP) population and 971 ED users
The relative numbers of subsequently hospitalised patients were significantly higher in the nonparticipants group compared to those in the participants group (hospitalised non-participants N = 64/ 225 (28.4%), hospitalised participants N = 206/1461 (14.1%)) (p < 0.01)
Summary
Overuse of emergency departments (ED) is of concern in Western society and it is often referred to as ‘inappropriate’ use This phenomenon may compromise efficient use of health care personnel, infrastructure and financial resources of the ED. Overuse of emergency departments (ED) is of concern in Western society and it is often referred to as ‘inappropriate’ use [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Services must pay attention to this knowledge to align out of hours care to people’s preferences, in order to attract patients to the most efficient service [15]
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