ArticleBMJ open2020
Non-urgent visits to emergency departments: a qualitative study in Iran exploring causes, consequences and solutions.
Article in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Factors Influencing Non-urgent Emergency Department Visits: A Review of the Causes and Impact.Cureus · 2026Review
- Activity, triage levels and impact of the pandemic on hospital emergency departments: A multicentre cross-sectional study.Journal of advanced nursing · 2025Observational
- Inappropriate Use of Emergency Services from the Perspective of Primary Care Underutilization in a Local Romanian Context: A Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Analysis of Emergency Department Use by Non-Urgent Patients and Their Visit Characteristics at an Academic Center.International journal of general medicine · 2023Article
- Reasons for patients with non-urgent conditions attending the emergency department in Kenya: A qualitative study.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo explore the causes and consequences of non-urgent visits to emergency departments in Iran and then suggest solutions from the healthcare providers' viewpoint.
designQualitative descriptive study with in-depth, open-ended, and semistructured interviews, which were inductively analysed using qualitative content analysis.
settingA territorial, educational and military hospital in Iran.
participantsEleven healthcare providers including eight nurses, two emergency medicine specialists and one emergency medicine resident.
resultsThree overarching themes of causes and consequences of non-urgent visits to the emergency department in addition to four suggested solutions were identified. The causes have encompassed the specialised services in emergency department, demand-side factors, and supply-side factors. The consequences have been categorised into three overarching themes including the negative consequences on patients, healthcare providers and emergency departments as well as the health system in general. The possible solutions for limiting and controlling non-urgent visits also involved regulatory plans, awareness-raising plans, reforms in payment mechanisms, and organisational arrangements.
conclusionWe highlighted the need for special attention to the appropriate use of emergency departments in Iran as a middle-income country. According to the complex nature of emergency departments and in order to control and prevent non-urgent visits, it can be suggested that policy-makers should design and implement a combination of the possible solutions.
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