Emergency department overcrowding: first Swiss application of the Emergency Department Work Index and risk factors for overcrowding.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is associated with increased waiting time, reduced patient satisfaction, and decreased quality of care. Numerous validated scores are available for assessing ED overcrowding. The Emergency Department Work Index (EDWIN) is the most established score for quantifying ED overcrowding. We assessed the applicability of the EDWIN in a Swiss ED and investigated further predictors of ED overcrowding.

Methods

In this retrospective analysis, we included consecutive ED visits at a tertiary care hospital between 1st December and 31st December 2016. The median EDWIN per hour was defined as the first endpoint. To investigate predictors of overcrowding, we grouped ED visits with an EDWIN ≤2 as not overcrowded and those with an EDWIN >2 as

SUBMITTER: Herzog A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12640941 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature