Key result
Increasing hospital bed occupancy was not significantly associated with a decreased likelihood of hospital admission within 24 hours from the emergency department.
Why the study?
The study aimed to assess whether previously reported associations between hospital bed occupancy and the likelihood of hospital admission from the emergency department could be reproduced in a different study population.
Does increasing hospital bed occupancy reduce the likelihood of hospital admission from the emergency department in patient attendances?
Cohort (n=89,503)
Yes
Does increasing hospital bed occupancy reduce the likelihood of hospital admission from the emergency department in patient attendances?
Hospital bed occupancy was not associated with the likelihood of admission from the ED, challenging previous findings and suggesting setting-specific variations.
Site-specific variation in ED admission decisions limits generalizability of bed occupancy associations; leaves open questions on local factors and requires prospective validation.
BACKGROUND: The decision to admit into the hospital from the emergency department (ED) is considered to be important and challenging. The aim was to assess whether previously published results suggesting an association between hospital bed occupancy and likelihood of hospital admission from the ED can be reproduced in a different study population. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of attendances at two Swedish EDs in 2015 was performed. Admission to hospital was assessed in relation to hospital bed occupancy together with other clinically relevant variables. Hospital bed occupancy was categorized and univariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed. RESULTS: In total 89,503 patient attendances were included in the final analysis. Of those, 29.1% resulted in admission within 24 h. The mean hospital bed occupancy by the hour of the two hospitals was 87.1% (SD 7.6). In both the univariate and multivariate analysis, odds ratio for admission within 24 h from the ED did not decrease significantly with an increasing hospital bed occupancy. CONCLUSIONS: A negative association between admission to hospital and occupancy level, as reported elsewhere, was not replicated. This suggests that the previously shown association might not be universal but may vary across sites due to setting specific circumstances.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Heyman et al. (2020) conducted a cohort in Emergency department attendances (n=89,503). Hospital bed occupancy was evaluated on Admission to hospital within 24 hours from the emergency department. Increasing hospital bed occupancy was not significantly associated with a decreased likelihood of hospital admission within 24 hours from the emergency department.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: