| Chief Complaints and Related Features of Elderly Patients Presenting to One Region Wide Emergency Medical Center With Medical Problems |
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Si Kyoung Jeong, Jee Yong Lim, Sung Youp Hong, Se Min Choi, Seung Phil Choi |
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Department of Emergency Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. sikyoung@catholic.ac.kr |
| 일개 권역응급의료센터에 내과계 질환으로 내원한 노인 환자의 주증상 및 관련된 특성 |
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정시경1, 임지용1, 홍성엽, 최세민, 최승필 |
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가톨릭 대학교 의과대학 응급의학교실 |
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| Abstract |
BACKGROUND
This research is to determine the chief complaints and related features of elderly patients who are presented to emergency department with medical problems.
METHODS
Medical records of patients, 65 years or above, who visited Uijeongbu Hospital Emergency Center between January 1, 2012 and June 30, 2012 were reviewed retrospectively. Age, gender, mode of transportation to the hospital, chief complaints, and diagnosis were among the subjects analyzed.
RESULTS
Elderly patients with medical problems, 3,468 visited the emergency department, constituting 12.66% from 27,396 patients in total during the research period. Patients aged 70 to 74 were 28.45%, composing the most among the age groups. Ambulance was the mode of transportation used by 43.06% of the patients and 42.96% of them stayed overnight, while 11.13% stayed in the intensive care units. The most frequent chief complaints were abdominal pain (16.81%), dyspnea (13.96%), and fever (11.16%). The most common diagnosis for patients with abdominal pain was gastritis (20.75%), chronic heart failure (26.03%) for dyspnea, and pneumonia (28.96%) for fever. The main diagnoses of in-patients according to the order of frequency were cerebral vascular accident (16.38%), pneumonia (12.48%), and chronic heart failure (6.04%).
CONCLUSION
The number of elderly patients who stayed overnight and stayed in the intensive care units have increased comparing to younger patients. The top 10 most frequent chief complaints accounted for 78.92% by medical elderly patients. The results of this research could be used for the development of geriatric emergency medicine training programs and critical pathway for interns and residents. |
| Key Words:
Chief complaint, Emergency department, Geriatric |
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