Patterns of emergency department visits during Hajj period: Towards healthcare optimization in view of Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030:

Ahmad A. Mirza; Mohammed A. Alsakkaf; Amrallah A. Mohammed; Abdulrahim A. Mirza; Soha A. Elmorsy

doi:10.12669/pjms.35.3.611

Ahmad A. Mirza Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine in Rabigh, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Mohammed A. Alsakkaf Department of Surgery, Security Forces Hospital Program, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
Amrallah A. Mohammed Department of Medical Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt; Home Healthcare Center, King Abdullah Medical City-Holy Capital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Abdulrahim A. Mirza Department of Surgery-Urology Section, Ministry of National Guard - Health Affairs, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Soha A. Elmorsy Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt; Department of Epidemiology and Statistics, King Abdullah Medical City-Holy Capital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.3.611

Keywords: Emergency department, Hajj, care level, Patients, healthcare center, discharge, bed occupancy, inpatient care, Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to examine the pattern of emergency department (ED) visits by Hajj patients and determine the urgency of emergency visits at an advanced healthcare center.

Methods: A retrospective review of medical records of Hajj patients visiting the ED at King Abdullah Medical City Makkah from September 1 to October 5, 2015 was conducted.

Results: We considered 233 visits by 199 Hajj patients. Most diseases were cardiovascular related. Approximately half of the ED visits led to hospital admission, which were largely during the evening and nighttime. Potentially avoidable visits were significantly encountered during the daytime. Average bed occupation time in the ED was similar for both cases: those admitted to inpatient care and discharged from ED. Results from the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale revealed that most patients were triaged with a score of III (48.4%) followed by a clinically better score of IV (32%); however, scores did not change significantly throughout the Hajj day.

Conclusions: During Hajj, a significant proportion of patients who visited the ED at the ultimate healthcare facility were discharged within 24 hours, with a higher rate in the morning-afternoon period. Both admitted and discharged cases required equal levels of care. Therefore, an extension in working days at primary care centers and optimization of advanced healthcare facilities during Hajj is currently warranted.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.3.611

How to cite this:
Mirza AA, Alsakkaf MA, Mohammed AA, Mirza AA, Elmorsy SA. Patterns of emergency department visits during Hajj period: Towards healthcare optimization in view of Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030. Pak J Med Sci. 2019;35(3):647-652. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.3.611

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Patterns of emergency department visits during Hajj period: Towards healthcare optimization in view of Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030

Emergency visit patterns during Hajj

Abstract