Cancer Res Treat.  2022 Jul;54(3):680-689. 10.4143/crt.2021.699.

Emergency Department Utilization of Adult Cancer Patient in Korea: A Nationwide Population-Based Study, 2017-2019

• Min HS
• Chang HJ
• Sung HK

• KMID: 2531315
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4143/crt.2021.699

Abstract

Purpose
The current study aimed to identify the overall characteristics of cancer-related emergency department (ED) visits by adult in Korea, including analyses of factors associated with ED stay time and outcomes nationwide.
Materials and Methods
We collected data on cancer-related ED visits from the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS) database between 2017 and 2019.
Results
ED visits by cancer patients comprised 5.5% (667,935 visits) of total ED visits from 2017 to 2019, which was slightly higher than in other counties. Patients with cancer who visited the ED were over 50 years old, the majority being males, and patients with cancer visited EDs in certified tertiary hospitals more frequently than patients without cancer. In multivariate analyses, the adjusted odds ratio for a length of stay more than 8 hours in the ED of certified tertiary hospitals was 126.34 (95% confidence interval, 1.422 to 1.460) when compared to hospitals. Nevertheless, the longer the patients stayed in the ED, the more likely they were to be admitted.
Conclusion
The longer ED stay and higher proportion of cancer patient hospitalizations suggest that cancer patients visit ED to be admitted as well as to receive acute care. The frequency of ED visits and admission may be adjusted to some extent depending on outpatient education, such as self-management of symptoms and situations. Improving cancer care in local communities should be met though provisions such as linking treatment between hospitals or supplying appropriate medical personnel, even for the efficient use of ED resources in hospitals.

Keyword

Neoplasms; Emergency department; Utilization review; Length of stay; Patient admission

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Flowchart for selection of study population. Among a total of 27,410,501 emergency department visits from 2017 to 2019, 667,935 cancer-related visits and 11,445,250 non-cancer-related visits were investigated in the current study. NEDIS, National Emergency Department Information System.

Reference

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