title: Emergency department visit rates and patterns in Canada's Vancouver coastal health region.
abstract: This study used administrative health data to describe emergency department (ED) visits by residents from assisted living and nursing home facilities in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, British Columbia. We compared ED visit rates, the distribution of visits per resident, and ED dispositions of the assisted living and nursing home populations over a 3-year period (2005-2008). There were 13,051 individuals in our study population. Visit rates (95% confidence interval) were 124.8 (118.1-131.7) and 64.1 (62.9-65.3) visits per 100 resident years in assisted living and nursing home facilities respectively. A smaller proportion of ED visits by assisted living residents resulted in hospital admission compared to nursing home residents (45% vs. 48%, p < .01). The ED visit rate among assisted living residents is significantly higher compared to that among nursing home residents. Future research is needed into the underlying causes for this finding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Practice,University of British Columbia,Vancouver,Canada.
authors.forename: Margaret J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: McGregor
authors.affiliation: UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research,Vancouver.
authors.forename: Kimberlyn M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: McGrail
authors.affiliation: Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute,Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Evaluation,Vancouver.
authors.forename: Riyad B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Abu-Laban
authors.affiliation: Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute,Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Evaluation,Vancouver.
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Ronald
authors.affiliation: UBC School of Nursing,Vancouver.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Baumbusch
authors.affiliation: Emergency and Health Services Commission,Vancouver.
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Andrusiek
authors.affiliation: Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute,Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Evaluation,Vancouver.
authors.forename: Michelle B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Cox
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D040561:Assisted Living Facilities; D001955:British Columbia; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies