Demographic Analysis of Emergency Department Patients at the Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai

Emergency medicine is an upcoming discipline that is still under development in many countries. Therefore, it is important to gain insight into the organization and patients presenting to the Emergency Department (ED). The aim of this cross-sectional study was to provide an epidemiological description of complaints and referrals of the patients visiting the ED of the Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai, China. A questionnaire was developed and completed for a convenience sample of all patients presenting to the Triage Desk of the ED. The study was performed in June 2008. A total of 2183 questionnaires were completed. The most common complaints were fever (15%), stomach/abdominal pain (15%), vertigo/dizziness (11%), and cough (10%). Following triage, patients were predominantly referred to an internist (41%), neurologist (14%), pulmonologist (11%), or general surgeon (9%). This study provides a better understanding of the reason for the ED visit and the triage system at the ED of the Ruijin Hospital. The results can be used in order to improve facilities appropriate for the specific population in the ED. 1. Introduction Emergency medicine (EM) is an evolving discipline in China as the economy modernization and urbanization are progressing rapidly. Consequently, there is an increasing need for a well-organized healthcare system that keeps up with the changing needs [1]. Shanghai is one of the largest Chinese cities, where a major public event, the World Exposition, was organized in 2010. In order to estimate EM organization, a cooperative project between the Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai (China) and the Erasmus MC (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) was initiated. The primary aim of this collaboration is to perform research into the current situation and development of care provided at the Emergency Department (ED). An early step for the development and modernization of any ED is an assessment of needs, which will define areas of attention for improvements [2]. Assessing the organizational structure, including the type of patients and their referral, is an important start. This very much applies to EM because it is one of the few specialized areas of medicine that is determined by the types of presentations of the patients [3]. At the Ruijin Hospital, emergency care is organized following a multidisciplinary model that is also widely applied in Europe [4, 5]. The ED is managed by doctors from different disciplines; in addition to emergency physicians, different specialists are present at the ED at all time for consultation. The ED of the Ruijin Hospital consists of a