Mosallam, R., Kandil, M. (2020). Emergency Department Crowding of a General Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt. Journal of High Institute of Public Health, 50(1), 52-57. doi: 10.21608/jhiph.2020.85910
Rasha A. Mosallam; Mohamed Kandil. "Emergency Department Crowding of a General Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt". Journal of High Institute of Public Health, 50, 1, 2020, 52-57. doi: 10.21608/jhiph.2020.85910
Mosallam, R., Kandil, M. (2020). 'Emergency Department Crowding of a General Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt', Journal of High Institute of Public Health, 50(1), pp. 52-57. doi: 10.21608/jhiph.2020.85910
Mosallam, R., Kandil, M. Emergency Department Crowding of a General Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt. Journal of High Institute of Public Health, 2020; 50(1): 52-57. doi: 10.21608/jhiph.2020.85910
Emergency Department Crowding of a General Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt
1Department of Health Administration and Behavioral Sciences, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Egypt
2Department of Emergency Medical Care, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, KSA
Abstract
Background: Emergency Department (ED) overcrowding has been described as a major public health problem regarding its impact on the outcome of healthcare process. Objective(s): To measure the level of ED crowding using the National Emergency Department Overcrowding Scale (NEDOCS) and ED occupancy. Methods: An Analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in the ED of a 144 bed general hospital in Alexandria, Egypt among 168 sampling instances of ED visits. NEDOCS score (developed by Weiss et al.) was calculated using a web-based calculator and the occupancy rate was calculated as the total number of ED patients divided by the number of licensed ED beds. Results: The mean NEDOCS score ranged from 19 to 200 indicating an overcrowded status in 59.3% of occasions. The ED occupancy ranged from 18.18 % to 272.73 % and exceeded 100 % in 66 % of measurements. The average NEDOCS score, ED occupancy and number of Left without being Seen (LWBS) differed significantly per hour being highest from 10 A.M. till 14 P.M. (p= 0.000) while only the average NEDOCS score number and LWBS patients differed by weekday (p=0.004 and 0.005 respectively). The daily number of LWBS patients showed a moderate positive correlation with NEDOCS score (Spearman’s rho = 0.648, p= .0000) and the ED occupancy (Spearman’s rho = 0.650, p < .001) Conclusion: There is a high level of ED overcrowding and ED occupancy which is affected by time of the day and the weekday. Overcrowding is associated with more LWBS patients.
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