Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Comparative Study
Frequent users of US emergency departments: characteristics and opportunities for intervention.
To compare the characteristics of US adults by frequency of emergency department (ED) utilisation, specifically the prevalence of chronic diseases and outpatient primary care and mental health utilisation. ⋯ Frequent ED users had a large burden of chronic diseases that also required high outpatient resources. Interventions designed to divert frequent ED users should focus on chronic disease management and access to outpatient services, particularly for Medicaid beneficiaries and other high risk subpopulations.
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Social media and mobile applications that allow people to work anywhere are changing the way people can contribute and collaborate. ⋯ It is feasible to engage a mobile workforce to complete health research-related tasks. Participants were able to validate information about emergency public health resources.
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Little is known about the expectations of patients attending the emergency department (ED) with minor injuries. Failure to address expectations may lead to dissatisfaction and poor compliance. We aimed to describe patient expectations of minor injury care and explore the association between unmet expectations and patient satisfaction. ⋯ Patients often expect interventions for minor injuries that they do not receive, but in most cases an explanation was given. We were unable to demonstrate an association between unmet expectations and reduced satisfaction with care.
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To investigate whether elderly patients, presenting following trauma and requiring immobilisation and imaging of the cervical spine, require increased use of CT and spend longer immobilised when compared to the younger population. ⋯ Half of the elderly patients underwent CT, and they were immobilised for significantly longer than younger patients. Measures should be adopted to facilitate early diagnosis and mitigate complications of prolonged immobilisation in elderly patients with neck trauma.
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To examine the predictors and temporal patterns of head injury (HI) presentation in the emergency department among cohorts of homeless and low-income housed men. ⋯ Having an HI is better predicted by previous head injuries, drug dependence or a seizure disorder than a history of homelessness or alcohol dependence. HIs may become more frequent with time.