Retrospective statistical evaluation of demographic characteristics and length of stay in the emergency department in intoxication cases who admitted to the emergency department in the last five years

Objective: In this study, we aimed to determine the retrospective demographic characteristics of the cases admitted to Çukurova University Department of Emergency Medicine with intoxication in the last five years and the discharge time of the patients from the emergency department. Material and Method: Our study was planned as a retrospective cross-sectional study. Within the scope of our study, intoxication cases admitted to Çukurova University Department of Emergency Medicine between 2017 and 2022 were included. Data from a total of 3231 patients were collected. The patient's age, gender, application date, outcome, total cost and examination times were examined retrospectively. Cases were analyzed by examining patient emergency department cards and hospitalization files. ICD-10 diagnoses that may be related to intoxication were scanned from the Mergen system. Patient data were recorded in the data collection sheet. Results: In our study, the data of a total of 3231 patients were compiled. 61.9% of all patients were female and the average age was 34.1±12.7 years. The most frequently applied months were May with 9.7% and July with 9.6%, respectively. The year with the highest number of applications was determined to be 2019. The peak hour for applications was 21:00 in the evening with 8% applications. The lowest number of applications was found to be at 07:00 in the morning with 0.8%. 51.5% of the patients applied to the green area and 48.5% to the yellow area. 50.3% of the patients were discharged from the emergency department, 47.8% were admitted to wards and 1.6% to intensive care units. The average application result time was found to be 685.3±4693 minutes. The average cost of the patients was determined as 770.6±3964 TL. The service where patients were most frequently admitted was the emergency medicine service with 46%. As for intensive care units, it was determined that the patients were most frequently admitted to pediatric intensive care units with a rate of 1%. All ICD-10 codes used during the first admission of the patients are shown in Table 11. The most frequently added diagnosis was "X44 - exposure to drugs, pills and biological substances and accidental poisoning other and unspecified" with 84.7%. Conclusion: The high demographic distribution of intoxication cases among young adults indicates that the young population is more exposed to such risks. In addition, since intoxication management requires a multidisciplinary approach, the awareness levels of other branches need to be increased. Keywords: Emergency Department, Demographics data, Intoxication, Length of Stay