Identifying subgroups and risk among frequent emergency department users in British Columbia.

ABSTRACT: Objective: Frequent emergency department (ED) users are heterogeneous. We aimed to identify subgroups and assess their mortality. Methods: We identified patients ≥18 years with ≥1 ED visit in British Columbia from April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2015, and linked to hospitalization, physician billing, prescription, and mortality data. Frequent users were the top 10% of patients by ED visits. We employed cluster analysis to identify frequent user subgroups. We assessed 365-day mortality using Kaplan-Meier curves and conducted Cox regressions to assess mortality risk factors within subgroups. Results: We identified 4 subgroups. Subgroup 1 ("Elderly") had median age 77 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 66-85), 5 visits/year (IQR: 4-6), median 8 prescription medications (IQR: 5-

SUBMITTER: Moe J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7823092 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature