Use of emergency departments by elderly patients in a city of Western Turkey

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reasons behind the demographic characteristics of patients presented to emergency departments. METHODS: The entire patient records of all the hospitals' emergency departments in the city of Eskisehir were retrospectively assessed in this study. The study was conducted between the years 1998 and 2000. Data were evaluated using χ, t-tests, and percent rates. RESULTS: Of 608 528 patients visiting the emergency departments, 79 123 (13.0%) were elderly patients. The treatment and discharge rate was 78.3%. Mean admission rate was 21.2%. The death rate during the visits was 0.4%. The proportion of the five most frequently seen diseases was 41.9%. CONCLUSION: Demographical trends show that emergency department visits by elderly patients would increase in time. So, in Turkey, emergency department staff should be trained to provide for the special needs of this population in emergency departments.