Patients Hospitalized in General Wards via the Emergency Department: Early Identification of Predisposing Factors for Death or Unexpected Intensive Care Unit Admission—A Historical Prospective
Table 1
Demographic characteristics of 4,619 consecutive patients admitted to the emergency department and then hospitalized on regular wards.
Entire cohort 4,619 (%)
Age, yrs (mean ± SD)
Gender, male/female, in %
54%/46%
Surgical patients* (%)
342 (7.4)
Medical patients (%)
4277 (92.6)
First hospitalization ward after ED visit
Digestive and thoracic surgery
493 (10.7)
Neurosurgery
64 (1.4)
Other surgical wards
385 (8.3)
Short-stay ward
1654 (35.8)
Infectious diseases ward
402 (8.7)
Hepatogastroenterology
258 (5.6)
Pneumology
246 (5.3)
Cardiology
234 (5.1)
Neurology
228 (4.9)
Other medical wards
655 (14.2)
Major diagnostic categories as coded in hospital database*
Nervous system
614 (13.3)
Eye
50 (1.1)
Ear, nose, mouth, and throat
68 (1.5)
Respiratory system
537 (11.6)
Circulatory system
366 (7.9)
Digestive system
559 (12.1)
Hepatobiliary system and pancreas
203 (4.4)
Musculoskeletal system and connective tissues
184 (4%)
Skin, subcutaneous tissue, and breast
159 (3.4)
Endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic system
96 (2.1)
Kidney and urinary tract
297 (6.4)
Male and female reproductive system
106 (2.2)
Blood and myeloproliferative diseases
114 (2.4)
Infectious and parasitic diseases and HIV infection
119 (2.6)
Mental diseases and disorders
92 (2)
Alcohol/drug use induced disorders
536 (11.6)
Injuries, poison, and toxic effect of drugs
180 (3.9)
Others
344 (7.5)
Hospital mortality rate
195 (4.2)
Destination of survivors after hospitalization
Home
4088 (88.5)
Rehabilitation centre
199 (4.3)
Long-term care
16 (0.3)
Psychiatric hospital
121 (2.6)
We based disease presence and diagnostic history on the presence of ICD-10 (international classification of diseases, 10th revision) codes; ED: emergency department; HIV: human immunodeficiency virus.
