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World Journal of Emergency Medicine ›› 2019, Vol. 10 ›› Issue (3): 152-155.doi: 10.5847/wjem.j.1920-8642.2019.03.004

Special Issue: Survey on Emergency Medicine

• Original Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Trends in mortality of emergency departments patients in China

Chang Pan1,2,3,4, Xiao-ran Huang5,6, Jiao-jiao Pang1,2,3,4, Kai Cheng1,2,3,4, Feng Xu1,2,3,4(), Yu-guo Chen1,2,3,4()   

  1. 1 Department of Emergency Medicine and Chest Pain Center, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China
    2 Clinical Research Center for Emergency and Critical Care Medicine of Shandong Province, Institute of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine of Shandong University, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China
    3 Key Laboratory of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine of Shandong Province, Key Laboratory of Cardiopulmonary-Cerebral Resuscitation Research of Shandong Province, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China
    4 The Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research, Chinese Ministry of Education, Chinese Ministry of Health and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences; The State and Shandong Province Joint Key Laboratory of Translational Cardiovascular Medicine; Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China
    5 Department of Emergency Medicine, Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China
    6 Medical College, Shantou University, Shantou, China
  • Received:2019-02-20 Accepted:2019-05-10 Online:2019-09-15 Published:2019-09-15
  • Contact: Feng Xu,Yu-guo Chen E-mail:xufengsdu@126.com;chen919085@126.com

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Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Emergency medical service system (EMSS) in China is becoming more important. However, studies on mortality of emergency departments (EDs) patients in tertiary hospitals and on the trends in mortality of ED patients all over China are stagnant. The objective of this study was to quantify and describe the trends in mortality of ED patients in China.
METHODS: Nine tertiary teaching hospitals were selected from tertiary teaching hospitals in different regions. The annual numbers of ED visits and deaths of these hospitals in 2004, 2009 and 2014 were recorded and analyzed. Chi-square test was used to compare the mortality of the EDs’ visits. Moreover, data on the mortality of ED patients in China from 2005 to 2015 were summarized and analyzed from the China Health and Family Planning Statistical Yearbooks (2006-2016).
RESULTS: From 2004 to 2014, the overall annual mortalities in EDs increased among the tertiary hospitals (P<0.001). However, the overall annual mortality in EDs all over China decreased from 0.12% in 2005 to 0.08% in 2015. And the mortalities of EDs patients in the eastern, central and western regions of China all decreased. In addition, the average mortality of EDs patients in northern China was obviously higher than that in southern China (P<0.05).
CONCLUSION: The ED mortality was increased in tertiary hospitals while decreased all over China during the past decade, which may be partly caused by some critical challenges faced by China’s EMSS, such as overcrowding and long length of stay in EDs of tertiary hospitals.

Key words: Mortality, Emergency departments, Tertiary hospitals, Trends