title: Beyond administrative data: characterizing cardiorespiratory disease episodes among patients visiting the emergency department.
abstract: We attempted to address deficiencies in administrative health service data during a study of cardiorespiratory emergency department visits. From 1994-1996, we obtained data on 9,264 visits and conducted 1,772 follow-up interviews. The median interval between symptoms and visit ranged from 0.8 days (95% CI 0-1.7) for cardiac conditions to 4.0 days for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (95% CI 2.7-5.3) and respiratory infections (95% CI 3.5-4.5). Infection was the most common trigger of respiratory visits. Although most had improved at follow-up, symptoms persisted following the visit for a mean of 4.5 days (95% CI 3.8-5.4) for cardiac conditions to 8.4 days (95% CI 7.2-9.5) for COPD. Among adults aged < 70, the mean number of reduced activity days per episode ranged from 4.7 (95% CI 3.9-5.4) for asthma to 6.6 (95% CI 5.9-7.4) for respiratory infections. Our data assist in interpreting epidemiological studies based on administrative data, and illustrate the broad impacts of cardiorespiratory disease episodes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation. dave_steib@hc-sc.gc.ca
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Stieb
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Beveridge
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Smith-Doiron
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Burnett
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Judek
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Dales
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Anis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017050:Episode of Care; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008173:Lung Diseases, Obstructive / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy