Dataset Information

Alcohol-related presentations to emergency departments in Ireland: a descriptive prevalence study.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:To determine the prevalence of alcohol-related presentations in all 29 emergency departments (EDs) in Ireland and compare with non-alcohol-related presentations in order to identify opportunities for improvements in the quality of patient care and related data collection. DESIGN AND SETTING:Descriptive prevalence study reviewing all records in the same four 6-hour periods in every 24-hour ED in the country. PARTICIPANTS:3194 persons who attended EDs over four specified 6-hour periods. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES:The prevalence of alcohol-related presentations, comparison with non-alcohol-related presentations and the categorisation of these presentations according to WHO International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision codes. RESULTS:The total number of presentations was 3194 in the four 6-hour periods, of whom 189 (5.9%) were alcohol related, varying from 29.0% in the early hours of Sunday morning to 1.2% on Monday morning (p>0.0001). The alcohol-related presentations were more likely to be men, attend on early hours of Sunday morning, arrive by ambulance, leave before being seen by a doctor or leave against medical advice; and they were less likely to be admitted to hospital. CONCLUSIONS:Alcohol-related presentations are a significant burden on EDs and ambulance services, especially in the early hours of Sunday mornings. Addressing the alcohol-related burden on EDs requires improvements in data collection and information systems, the development of appropriate interventions and related referral services and better preventive actions for alcohol-related harm.

SUBMITTER: McNicholl B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5988151 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Alcohol-related presentations to emergency departments in Ireland: a descriptive prevalence study.

McNicholl Brian B Goggin Deirdre D O'Donovan Diarmuid D

BMJ open 20180524 5

<h4>Objectives</h4>To determine the prevalence of alcohol-related presentations in all 29 emergency departments (EDs) in Ireland and compare with non-alcohol-related presentations in order to identify opportunities for improvements in the quality of patient care and related data collection.<h4>Design and setting</h4>Descriptive prevalence study reviewing all records in the same four 6-hour periods in every 24-hour ED in the country.<h4>Participants</h4>3194 persons who attended EDs over four spe ...[more]

PMID: 29794104

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Project description:Evidence-based indicators of quality of care have been developed to improve care and performance in Canadian emergency departments. The feasibility of measuring these indicators has been assessed mainly in urban and academic emergency departments. We sought to assess the feasibility of measuring quality-of-care indicators in rural emergency departments in Quebec.We previously identified rural emergency departments in Quebec that offered medical coverage with hospital beds 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and were located in rural areas or small towns as defined by Statistics Canada. A standardized protocol was sent to each emergency department to collect data on 27 validated quality-of-care indicators in 8 categories: duration of stay, patient safety, pain management, pediatrics, cardiology, respiratory care, stroke and sepsis/infection. Data were collected by local professional medical archivists between June and December 2013.Fifteen (58%) of the 26 emergency departments invited to participate completed data collection. The ability to measure the 27 quality-of-care indicators with the use of databases varied across departments. Centres 2, 5, 6 and 13 used databases for at least 21 of the indicators (78%-92%), whereas centres 3, 8, 9, 11, 12 and 15 used databases for 5 (18%) or fewer of the indicators. On average, the centres were able to measure only 41% of the indicators using heterogeneous databases and manual extraction. The 15 centres collected data from 15 different databases or combinations of databases. The average data collection time for each quality-of-care indicator varied from 5 to 88.5 minutes. The median data collection time was 15 minutes or less for most indicators.Quality-of-care indicators were not easily captured with the use of existing databases in rural emergency departments in Quebec. Further work is warranted to improve standardized measurement of these indicators in rural emergency departments in the province and to generalize the information gathered in this study to other health care environments.

Dataset Information

Alcohol-related presentations to emergency departments in Ireland: a descriptive prevalence study.

Publications

Alcohol-related presentations to emergency departments in Ireland: a descriptive prevalence study.

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