Factors associated with emergency department visits due to acute asthma

Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research

P.t.r. Dalcin¹  D.m. Piovesan¹  S. Kang¹  A.k. Fernandes¹  E. Franciscatto¹  T. Millan¹  C. Hoffmann¹  C. Innocente¹  R.p. Pereira²  S.s. Menna Barreto² 

[1] ,Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Faculdade de Medicina Departamento de Medicina Interna

关键词: Asthma;    Acute exacerbation;    Emergency medicine;    Emergency room visits;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0100-879X2004000900007

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

It is important to identify characteristics related to poor disease control and frequent visits to the emergency department (ED). The objective of the present study was to compare the characteristics of patients attending the adult ED for treatment of asthma exacerbation with those attending an asthma specialist clinic (AC) in the same hospital, and to determine the factors associated with frequent visits to the ED. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of consecutive patients (12 years and older) attending the ED (N = 86) and the AC (N = 86). Significantly more ED patients than AC patients reported ED visits in the past year (95.3 vs 48.8%; P < 0.001) and had difficulty performing work (81.4 vs 49.4%; P < 0.001. Significantly more AC than ED patents had been treated with inhaled corticosteroids (75.6 vs 18.6%; P < 0.001) used to increase or start steroid therapy when an attack was perceived (46.5 vs 20.9%; P < 0.001) and correctly used a metered-dose inhaler (50.0 vs 11.6%; P < 0.001). The history of hospital admissions (odds ratio, OR, 4.00) and use of inhaled corticosteroids (OR, 0.27) were associated with frequent visits to the ED. In conclusion, ED patients were more likely than AC patients to be dependent on the acute use of the ED, were significantly less knowledgeable about asthma management and were more likely to suffer more severe disease. ED patients should be considered an important target for asthma education. Facilitating the access to ambulatory care facilities might serve to reduce asthma morbidity.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
 All the contents of this journal, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License