ArticleIrish journal of medical science2019
Profiling frequent attenders at an inner city emergency department.
Article in Irish journal of medical science, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- High Utilisation Behaviour in Emergency Departments: Predictors in Baixo Alentejo Region.Portuguese journal of public health · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of a targeted telephone-based case management service on activity in an Emergency Department in the UK: a pragmatic difference-in-differences evaluation.BMC health services research · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEmergency department (ED) frequent attenders (FAs) have a higher rate of adverse outcomes compared to infrequent attenders.
aimsThe primary aim was to describe the prevalence of FAs at an inner city ED. A subgroup analysis was undertaken for high and very high FAs to establish demographics and other factors which might cause them to attend frequently.
methodsA retrospective review of all patients who attended the ED at Mercy University Hospital (MUH), Cork, during 2016 was undertaken. Patients were classified as either infrequent attenders (1-2 attendances/year), frequent attenders (3-12 attendances/year), high frequent attenders (HFA, 13-29 attendances/year), or very high frequent attenders (VHFA, > 30 attendances/year).
resultsDuring 2016, a total of 21,920 patients presented 33,152 times. Overall, 90.2% (n = 19,761) were infrequent attenders, whilst 9.6% (n = 2115) were FAs. A further 36 patients (0.16%) were HFAs and eight patients (0.04%) were classified as VHFAs. Almost 10% of patients attended the ED three or more times, accounting for 29% of overall ED attendances. The HFA and VHFA cohorts were predominantly male (79.5%, n = 35) with an average age of 49.6 years. They were found to have multiple medical comorbidities, complex psychosocial problems, and a mortality rate of 11.3% over a 2-year period.
conclusionsThis retrospective review is the most detailed assessment of Irish FAs undertaken to date. Further studies are required to examine the Irish hospitals most at need of Case Management Strategy Programmes which we postulate could minimise the risk of adverse outcomes for these patients and improve overall ED efficiency.
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Registered trials
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