Yonsei Med J.
2024 Jul;65(7):418-426. 10.3349/ymj.2023.0338.
Epidemiology of Non-Emergent Cancer-Related Emergency Department Visits in Korea between 2016 and 2020
- Affiliations
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- 1Public Healthcare Center, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea
- 2Department of Human Systems Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
- 3Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine and Hospital, Seoul, Korea
- 4National Emergency Medical Center, National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea
- 5Department of Emergency Medicine, Chosun University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea
- 6Department of Emergency Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea
- KMID: 2557218
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2023.0338
Abstract
- Purpose
As people living with cancer increase in the aging society, cancer-related emergency department (ED) visits are also increasing. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiologic characteristics of non-emergent cancer-related ED visits using a nationwide ED database.
Materials and Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted using the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS) database. All cancer-related ED visits between 2016 and 2020 were included. The study outcome was non-emergent ED visits, defined as patients triaged into non-emergent condition at both the time of arrival at ED and discharge from ED and were discharged without hospitalization.
Results
Among 1185871 cancer-related ED visits over 5 years, 19.0% (n=225491) were classified as non-emergent visits. While abdominal pain and fever are the top chief complaints in both emergent and non-emergent visits, non-emergent visits had high proportions of abdomen distension (4.8%), ascite (2.4%), and pain in lower limb (2.0%) compared with emergent visits. The cancer types with a high proportion of non-emergent visits were thyroid (32.4%) and prostate cancer (30.4%). Adults compared with children or older adults, female, medical aid insurance, urban/rural ED, direct-in compared with transfer-in, and weekend visit were associated with high odds for non-emergent visits.
Conclusion
Approximately 20% of cancer-related ED visits may be potentially non-emergent. A significant number of non-emergent patients visited the ED due to cancer-related symptoms. To improve the quality of care for people living with cancer, the expansion of supportive care resources besides of ED, including active symptom control, is necessary.
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