Emergency department visits for non-urgent conditions in Iran: a cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To determine the percentage of non-urgent (NU) visits in an Iranian emergency department (ED), to explore why patients with NU conditions refer to EDs and also to assess the association between patients' characteristics and their visits.

Design

A cross sectional study based on face to face survey.

Setting

A territorial, teaching and military hospital in Tehran province, Iran.

Participants and data collection

All patients who visited the ED during the 2-week period were recruited. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire.

Results

Of 1884 patients who visited the ED, 1217 (64.6%) patients were triaged as NU while 667 (35.4%) were urgent and semiurgent visits cases. The most important reasons for NU visits were seeking prompt (36.6%) a

SUBMITTER: Bahadori M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6797411 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature