Retrospective evaluation of patients presenting to the emergency department: The case of Nevşehir

Emergency Services are units within healthcare systems that undertake perhaps one of the most important tasks. Compared to other health units, Emergency Services undertake the requirements of immediate intervention and the responsibility of providing 24-hour service. Purpose: In our study, it was aimed to retrospectively evaluate the patients who applied to Nevşehir State Hospital Emergency Service within five years covering the period between January 2017 and December 2021. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of patients who applied to Nevşehir State Hospital Emergency Department between January 2017 and December 2021. The applications were evaluated according to the specified criteria such as age, gender, application months, frequently coded diagnoses, polyclinics where they were consulted and those diagnosed with Covid-19. Findings: According to the data analyzed in the study, the highest number of applications were made in 2021 (25.9%) and the highest number of applications were made by male patients (50.3%). When we look at the age groups of the patients who applied, most applications were from patients under the age of 18 (23.1%). The most frequently coded diagnosis group in the applications was Respiratory System Diseases (21.8), which is the J00-J99 diagnosis group, while the most coded diagnosis was J39 Upper Respiratory Tract Diseases (16.76%). While the most frequent application was in August (10.4%), the most consultation was made to the Chest Diseases Polyclinic (11.8%). Result: Emergency services are important units where many patients requiring multidisciplinary approach and emergency intervention are evaluated. It is very important to know the number and quality of patients who apply to emergency services in order to determine the service to be provided in emergency services. At the same time, emergency services need a multidisciplinary management system in the management of disasters such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Keywords: Emergency Service, Covid-19, Pandemic, Retrospective, ICD-10