Research Article
Identifying Potentially Avoidable Emergency Department Visits of Long-Term Care Hospital Residents in Korea: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study
Table 1
General characteristics of the study population transferred from LTCHs to EDs.
| | Characteristics | Reasonable | Potentially avoidable | p-value | | (N=963) | (N=168) |
| | Age, years, n (%) | | | 0.131 | | 65–74 | 213 (22.1) | 26 (15.5) | | | 75–84 | 461 (47.9) | 84 (50.0) | | | ≥85 | 289 (30.0) | 58 (34.5) | | | Sex, n (%) | | | 0.234 | | Male | 449 (46.6) | 70 (41.7) | | | Female | 514 (53.4) | 98 (58.3) | | | Triage category (KTAS), n (%) | | | 0.372 | | 1 | 34 (3.5) | 8 (4.8) | | | 2 | 220 (22.8) | 36 (21.4) | | | 3 | 557 (57.8) | 88 (52.4) | | | 4 | 120 (12.5) | 29 (17.3) | | | 5 | 32 (3.3) | 7 (4.2) | | | Common causes of LTCH admissions, n (%) | | | 0.043 | | Cerebrovascular disorders | 400 (41.5) | 62 (36.9) | | | Dementia | 141 (12.7) | 28 (18.4) | | | Orthopedic injuries | 106 (11.0) | 15 (8.9) | | | Malignancies | 71 (7.4) | 20 (11.9) | | | End-stage kidney disease | 69 (7.2) | 5 (3.0) | | | Generalized weakness | 68 (7.1) | 11 (6.5) | | | Other trauma | 30 (3.1) | 8 (4.8) | | | Congestive heart failure | 20 (2.1) | 4 (2.4) | | | Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 14 (1.5) | 2 (1.2) | | | Vegetative state | 15 (1.6) | 0 (0) | | | Others | 29 (3.0) | 11 (6.5) | | | Main reasons for ED visit, n (%) | | | 0.317 | | Medical cause | 884 (91.8) | 158 (94.0) | | | Nonmedical cause | 79 (8.2) | 10 (6.0) | | | Primary diagnosis in the ED, n (%) | | | 0.097 | | Trauma | 60 (6.2) | 5 (3.0) | | | Non-trauma | 903 (93.8) | 163 (97.0) | | | Specific diagnoses (non-trauma) | | | <0.001 | | Respiratory tract | 311 (34.4) | 38 (23.3) | | | Urologic | 115 (12.7) | 27 (16.6) | | | Gastrointestinal | 165 (18.3) | 17 (10.4) | | | For procedure | 73 (8.1) | 10 (6.1) | | | Cardiovascular | 52 (5.8) | 7 (4.3) | | | Cerebrovascular | 56 (6.2) | 6 (3.7) | | | Fluid and electrolyte disorder | 20 (2.2) | 3 (1.8) | | | Sepsis | 47 (5.2) | 3 (1.8) | | | Cardiopulmonary arrest | 2 (0.2) | 3 (1.8) | | | No disease found | 13 (1.4) | 25 (15.3) | | | Others | 49 (5.4) | 24 (14.7) | | | Disposition in the ED, n (%) | | | <0.001 | | Returned to an LTCH | 189 (19.6) | 98 (58.3) | | | Admitted to this hospital | 730 (75.8) | 37 (4.8) | | | GW/ICU: n (%) | | | 0.096 | | General ward | 475 (65.1) | 29 (78.4) | | | Intensive care unit | 255 (34.9) | 8 (21.6) | | | Admitted to another hospital | 22 (2.3) | 17 (10.1) | | | Left before treatment completed | 18 (1.9) | 9 (5.4) | | | Deceased | 4 (0.4) | 7 (4.2) | |
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LTCH: long-term care hospital, ED: emergency department, KTAS: Korean Triage and Acuity Scale, GW: general ward, ICU: intensive care unit.
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