Effects of ambient temperature on volume, specialty composition and triage levels of emergency department visits
Journal
Emergency Medicine Journal
Journal Volume
24
Journal Issue
9
Pages
641-644
Date Issued
2007
Author(s)
Abstract
Aim: To evaluate the effects of change of ambient temperature on emergency department (ED) patient visits. Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted in the ED of National Taiwan University Hospital from January 2002 to January 2007. The daily ED patient numbers of different triage levels in different service specialties were collected and correlated with the daily average temperature (T) and change in temperature (δT) compared with the previous day. A univariote analysis was performed with the Pearson correlation and a multivariate analysis with multiple linear regression analysis. Results: A total of 505 224 patient visits were included in this study. On univariate analysis, there was no significant correlation between T and the ED volume (r=0.012, p=0.608), but there was a significant correlation between δT and ED volume (r=0.109, p<0.001). On multivariate analysis, δT and holidays were identified as independent predictors of ED volume. We established the following formula in predicting the ED patient number: y = 265.A2+(0.06×T)+(2.57 × δT)+(59.77 × holiday). There was a positive association between T and the trauma patient number, while there was a negative association between T and medical and poediatric patiient numbers. On the triage level, a low T was associated with increased patient triage level, while no significant association was noted between AT and the proportion in any triage level. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that ambient temperature had differential effects on ED patient visits of different specialties and severities.
SDGs
Other Subjects
article; controlled study; correlation analysis; correlation coefficient; emergency care; emergency health service; environmental temperature; human; injury; major clinical study; multiple linear regression analysis; multivariate analysis; observational study; priority journal; prospective study; Taiwan; univariate analysis; university hospital; Emergency Service, Hospital; Female; Humans; Linear Models; Male; Predictive Value of Tests; Prospective Studies; Taiwan; Temperature; Triage
Type
journal article