Volume Matters: Improved Outcomes for Patients Presenting to High-Volume Emergency Departments with Atrial Flutter and Fibrillation.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Clinical familiarity plays a role in health outcomes; the relationship between emergency department (ED) volume and outcomes for atrial fibrillation and flutter (AFF) are not clear. We compared ED presentation outcomes for AFF between high (HV) and low volume (LV) EDs in Alberta, Canada.

Methods

45,372 AFF presentations for patients aged ≥ 35 years from all 104 EDs in Alberta during 1999 to 2011 using administrative health databases formed a retrospective cohort. EDs were grouped by annual AFF volume: 11 high (>100 presentations) or 93 low (≤100 presentations). Outcomes included hospital admission rate, return to ED for AFF within 30 and 90 days, and death within 30 and 90 days. Analyses included statistical tests and mixed effects modeling.

Results

Mean ag

SUBMITTER: Rosychuk RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5096686 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature