An overview of the demographics, diagnoses, and analysis of patients transported by ambulance to the emergency department

Aim: This study aims to analyze the demographic characteristics of patients transported by ambulance to the emergency department (ED), their preliminary diagnoses during the pre-hospital phase, and their initial diagnoses and hospital outcomes after evaluation in the hospital. Material and Methods: This was a prospective, cross-sectional descriptive study. Data were obtained from the emergency medicine physician's patient forms in the hospital information system. The analysis included patients' demographic characteristics, admission times, and status at the ED. Results: A total of 633 patients who met the inclusion criteria were examined in this study. The demographic breakdown included 56.5% male (n=358) and 43.5% female patients (n=275), with ages ranging from 1 to 110 years and a mean age of 53.10 +/- 24.59 years. Approximately one-third of the cases were geriatric patients. Nearly half of the patient admissions to the ED occurred between 16:00 and 24:00. Trauma was the predominant reason for ambulance transports, with most cases originating from the patients' homes. The majority were discharged as outpatients from the ED. Despite geriatric patients constituting a significant portion of ambulance transports, their admissions to the ED were evenly distributed throughout the 24-hour cycle. Ambulances were primarily used for trauma and neurological disorders. Admissions after midnight were significantly lower than those before midnight. Although diagnostic concordance between ambulance and ED was generally high, it was lowest among the elderly (over 85 years of age). Additionally, the level of diagnostic agreement was consistent across different EMS teams, regardless of whether they were physicians, paramedics, or EMTs. Discussion: Pre-hospital diagnoses made by EMS personnel may be less accurate for older patients.