Triage and length of stay in emergency department visits due to alcohol intoxication: A retrospective chart review

IF 2.1 4区医学 Q2 EMERGENCY MEDICINE

Australasian Emergency Care Pub Date : 2023-03-01 DOI:10.1016/j.auec.2022.08.004

Sunmi Lee , Hyunjin Oh

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Patients with alcohol intoxication are screened and treated at emergency departments (EDs), at the cost of alcohol-related ED visit resource consumption. The purposes of this study were to identify characteristics of patients with alcohol intoxication, in terms of triage, blood alcohol concentration (BAC), and ED length of stay (LOS) and to compare these characteristics by homelessness status.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective chart review of all visits and referrals to one drunken center in an ED between January and December 2019. Adults aged over 18 years admitted to the drunken center with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 100 mg/dl or higher were included.

Results

Approximately 89 % were male, around 30.4 % of the patients with acute alcohol intoxication were homeless. Approximately 46 % of patients were Medicaid or non-insured. Approximately 74.2 % of the patients were classified as KTAS 4 (less urgent) and 5 (nonurgency) upon initial KTAS evaluation. Both BAC and ED LOS were significantly higher in the homeless group.

Conclusions

About half of alcohol intoxicated patients who visited ED were vulnerable, and they visited the ED due to the problem of less urgent or non-urgent status of triage. Sobering places, not ED, and connecting patients with social work programs is important.

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酒精中毒患者急诊分诊和住院时间:回顾性图表回顾

背景酒精中毒患者在急诊科接受筛查和治疗，费用为酒精相关急诊就诊资源的消耗。本研究的目的是确定酒精中毒患者在分诊、血液酒精浓度（BAC）和ED住院时间（LOS）方面的特征，并根据无家可归状况对这些特征进行比较。方法我们对2019年1月至12月期间ED中一家醉酒中心的所有就诊和转诊进行了回顾性图表审查。纳入了血液酒精浓度（BAC）为100mg/dl或更高的18岁以上进入醉酒中心的成年人。结果约89%为男性，约30.4%的急性酒精中毒患者无家可归。大约46%的患者是医疗补助或非保险患者。在最初的KTAS评估中，约74.2%的患者被分为KTAS 4（不太紧急）和5（非紧急）。无家可归者组的BAC和ED LOS均显著升高。结论约有一半的酒精中毒患者就诊于急诊科，他们就诊于急诊室是由于分诊状态不太紧急或不紧急的问题。清醒的地方，而不是急诊室，并将患者与社会工作项目联系起来是很重要的。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Australasian Emergency Care Nursing-Emergency Nursing

CiteScore

3.30

自引率

5.60%

发文量

审稿时长

37 days

期刊介绍： Australasian Emergency Care is an international peer-reviewed journal dedicated to supporting emergency nurses, physicians, paramedics and other professionals in advancing the science and practice of emergency care, wherever it is delivered. As the official journal of the College of Emergency Nursing Australasia (CENA), Australasian Emergency Care is a conduit for clinical, applied, and theoretical research and knowledge that advances the science and practice of emergency care in original, innovative and challenging ways. The journal serves as a leading voice for the emergency care community, reflecting its inter-professional diversity, and the importance of collaboration and shared decision-making to achieve quality patient outcomes. It is strongly focussed on advancing the patient experience and quality of care across the emergency care continuum, spanning the pre-hospital, hospital and post-hospital settings within Australasia and beyond.