ArticleAcute medicine & surgery
Characteristics and subgroups of frequent emergency department users in an academic hospital in Japan.
Article in Acute medicine & surgery. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Frequent Users in Psychiatric Consultations: A 6-Year Retrospective Study in the Emergency Department.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Observational
- Health Statuses of People in Poverty Receiving Public Assistance in Japan: A Scoping Review.JMA journal · 2024Article
- Emergency Department Use among Patients with Mental Health Problems: Profiles, Correlates, and Outcomes.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Transitions in health care settings for frequent and infrequent users of emergency departments: a population-based retrospective cohort study.BMC health services research · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimFrequent emergency department (ED) users increase the burden on EDs. However, little is known about the characteristics and subgroups of frequent ED users in Japan.
methodsWe retrospectively analyzed data on patients who had visited the ED of an academic hospital in Japan between 2014 and 2015. We identified adult frequent ED users (four or more ED visits within 365 days prior to one's last visit) and sampled adult non-frequent ED users. We compared these groups to delineate the characteristics of frequent ED users and examined the association between frequent ED use and hospitalization rates. Additionally, to identify latent subgroups of frequent ED users, we undertook a cluster analysis.
resultsWe identified 259 frequent ED users and 297 non-frequent ED users from 9,546 patients who had visited the ED in 2015. Frequent ED users accounted for 8.2% of all ED visits. Frequent ED users tended to be older, have comorbidities, and be receiving public assistance compared to non-frequent ED users. There was a significant association between frequent ED use and higher hospitalization rates, which was partially attributable to (older) age and comorbidities. In the cluster analysis, we identified four subgroups of frequent ED users: (i) older patients with malignant tumors and the highest hospitalization rates, (ii) patients with mental illnesses and the lowest hospitalization rates, (iii) patients who were at risk of cardiovascular diseases, (iv) others.
conclusionsFrequent ED users tended to be older and have comorbidities. Four latent subgroups of frequent ED users were identified.
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