ArticleHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland)2024
Emergency Departments in Contemporary Healthcare: Are They Still for Emergencies? An Analysis of over 1 Million Attendances.
Article in Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Fast-track and primary care in the emergency department: managing more, but not decongesting.Internal and emergency medicine · 2026Observational
- The impact of chronic conditions on emergency department length of stay.Internal and emergency medicine · 2026Observational
- Reducing Mis-triage in Emergency Departments (RemEDy): Protocol for Improving Triage Accuracy Through Real-time Evaluation and Artificial Intelligence.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Elderly patients with healthcare-associated infections in the emergency department: clinical characteristics and risk factors for septic shock: a retrospective study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Enhancing patient safety in alternative emergency pathways: a comparative study of Italian and United Kingdom systems.Internal and emergency medicine · 2026Article
- Characteristics and outcomes of pharmacy-supported transitions of care interventions in emergency departments: a scoping review.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2026Article
- Factors associated with avoidable non-urgent emergency department visits in South Tyrol (Italy): a multicentre cross-sectional study.BMC emergency medicine · 2026Article
- Role reconstruction and competency requirements of emergency nurses in the human-machine collaborative mode: a qualitative study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Predictors of procedural intervention in otolaryngology consultations: a retrospective multivariable analysis of 1,366 cases.Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) · 2026Article
- Current situation and influencing factors of emergency department visits by non-urgent young and middle-aged patients in China: A retrospective study.Belitung nursing journal · 2026Article
- How Do Spanish Hospitals Use Lean? Insights from a Multiple-Case Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- A foundational triage system for improving accuracy in moderate acuity level emergency classifications.Communications medicine · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOver the past few decades, emergency departments (EDs) have experienced an increasing workload. However, the variation in the types of patient accesses to these departments remains poorly understood.
objectiveTo evaluate the 5-year temporal trend in the volume of patients attending EDs based on the urgency of their conditions.
methodsThis multicenter observational retrospective study was conducted from 1 January 2019, to 31 December 2023, across seven Italian EDs located within the same province. All patients accessing the EDs during the study period were included, totaling 1,282,735 patients. The triage code was used as an urgency index; non-urgent patients were defined as those who received a code 4 or 5 in triage, while urgent patients were defined as those who received a code 3, 2, or 1 in triage. Temporal analyses of admissions were conducted, also evaluating individual age groups to understand behavior over time.
resultsFrom 2019 to 2023, there was a significant 10% increase in ED attendances by non-urgent patients. This increase was observed during both daytime and nighttime shifts. Notably, all age groups showed an increase in non-urgent patients, except for pediatric patients aged 0 to 14.
conclusionsOver the past 5 years, there has been a consistent upward trend in ED attendances by non-urgent patients. Healthcare policies should consider implementing strategies to manage or mitigate the overload in EDs, particularly related to non-urgent patient accesses.
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