Individual predictors of frequent emergency department use: a scoping review

A small proportion of patients use an excessively large amount of emergency care resources which often results in emergency department (ED) overcrowding, decreased quality of care and efficiency. There is a need to better identify these patients in order to target those who will benefit most from in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMC health services research 2016-10, Vol.16 (1), p.594-594, Article 594
Main Authors: Krieg, Cynthia, Hudon, Catherine, Chouinard, Maud-Christine, Dufour, Isabelle
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Case management
Chronic frequent ED use
Chronic illnesses
Emergency department
Emergency medical care
Emergency service
Emergency Service, Hospital - utilization
Female
Forecasting
Frequent ED use
Hospitals
Humans
Literature reviews
Male
Medical care
Middle Aged
Patient satisfaction
Population
Primary care
Systematic review
Utilization
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Summary:A small proportion of patients use an excessively large amount of emergency care resources which often results in emergency department (ED) overcrowding, decreased quality of care and efficiency. There is a need to better identify these patients in order to target those who will benefit most from interventions adapted to their specific needs. We aimed to identify the predictive factors of short-term frequent use of ED (over a 1-year period) and chronic frequent use of ED (over a multiple-year period) and to highlight recurring characteristics in patients. A scoping review was performed of all relevant articles found in Medline published between 1979 and 2015 (Ovid). This scoping review included a total of 20 studies, of these, 16 articles focussed on frequent ED users and four others on chronic frequent ED users. A majority of articles confirm that patients who frequently visit the ED are persons of low socioeconomic status. Both frequent and chronic frequent ED users show high levels of health care use (other than the ED) and suffer from multiple physical and mental conditions. This research highlights which individual factors predict frequent emergency department use. Further research is needed to better characterize and understand chronic frequent users as well as the health issues and unmet medical needs that lead to chronic frequent ED use.
ISSN:1472-6963
1472-6963
DOI:10.1186/s12913-016-1852-1