title: Is routine pregnancy test necessary in women of reproductive age admitted to the emergency department?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study aimed to determine the necessity of pregnancy test in women of reproductive age admitted to emergency department (ED) in routine practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients who presented to the ED between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2010 and received a pregnancy test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median age of 1 586 patients enrolled into the study was 27 years. Of these patients, 19.55% had a positive result of pregnancy test. The most common complaint at admission was abdominal pain in 60.15% of the patients, and pregnancy test was prescribed. 15.83% of the patients with abdominal pain had a positive result of pregnancy test. Of the patients, 30.64% had nausea-vomiting at admission, and 11.52% had a positive result of pregnancy test. When other complaints were considered, the most commonly observed complaints were non-specific symptoms such as dizziness, malaise and respiratory problems. Of the patients, 70.93% were not remembering the date of last menstruation, and 9.51% showed a positive result of pregnancy test. Urinary tract infection (UTI) was commonly diagnosed with an incidence of 17.65%, which was followed by non-specific abdominal pain (NSAP) (16.77%) and gastrointestinal disorders such as gastritis and peptic ulcer (6.87%). Of the patients, 88.40% were discharged from ED, and 11.60% were hospitalized.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pregnancy test should be given to women of reproductive age as a routine practice in ED in developing countries like Turkey.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ozlem
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Köksal
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Fatma
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ozdemir
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Erol
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Armağan
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nuran
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Oner
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Pınar Çinar
authors.initials: PÇ
authors.lastname: Sert
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Deniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sigirli
keywords: Emergency Medical Services; Female; Pregnancy; Reproduction