Source: International Congress 2016 – Monitoring airway diseases with clinical tools
Disease area: Airway diseases

Abstract

Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are common, distressing to patients, and cause hospital admissions which have a significant impact on healthcare resources. Understanding the timing and frequency of attendance to ED is relevant for healthcare planning and the appropriate treatment of people with COPD.Objective:To determine the timing and frequency of attendances due to COPD to our district general emergency department over the course of a year.Methods:Hospital attendance records were used to record every attendance to ED between 01/01/15 to 31/12/15 due to COPD at our centre. The number of subsequent admissions and Length of Stay (LoS) in hospital were also recorded. The frequency of attendance, time, day and month of attendance were then determined.Results:There were 1112 attendances due to COPD to our Emergency Department during 2015, compromising 672 different patients. 92.5% of attendances resulted in hospital admission (n=1029). 30.1% (n=202) of patients had 2 or more attendances, whilst the greatest number of attendances from a patient was 16. December had the highest number of attendances and admissions (n=117). Attendance was highest on a Monday and lowest on Friday and Saturday. Attendance peaked between 9-11pm and was lowest between midnight and 8am. The average LoS was 1.25 days, with May having the highest average (1.87) and September the lowest (0.98).Conclusion:The vast majority of COPD attendances to our centre result in admission, with peaks in December, on a Monday and in the late evening. The relatively short average LoS suggests there is potential to target frequent attenders in the community, to prevent their admission and reduce healthcare costs.


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Daniel Neville (Havant, United Kingdom), Daniel Neville, Thomas Jones, Ellie Lanning, Thomas Brown, Ben Green, Anoop Chauhan. COPD attendances in a busy emergency department; frequency and timing. Eur Respir J 2016; 48: Suppl. 60, 1044

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