Background and Importance Analysing the reasons of repeated Emergency Department (ED) visits could help establish a pharmacotherapeutic follow-up consultation, in order to reduce the number of re-consultations

Aim and Objectives Analyse the percentage of repeated visits to ED in relation to pharmaceutically-approved patients’ medication or patients’ medication that have received a thorough pharmacotherapy revision (approved/thoroughly checked patients).

Material and Methods An observational, retrospective study developed in a second-level hospital from September to December 2022. All patients approved and thoroughly checked by Pharmacy team from ED were included, meaning all those who appeared in at least one of Emergency Pharmacy Activity (EPA) forms. The main variable considered was the percentage of patients that came back to ED, counting ≥2 EPA registrations, compared to the total amount of approved/thoroughly checked patients in that period. Other variables considered were the percentage of patients coming back with the same issue, the main issues the repeat a visit, the percentage of repeated visits related to pharmacotherapy and the main pharmacotherapeutic related groups (ATC code). Data were acquired from the electronic clinical history. Data were statistically evaluated through a software descriptive frequency analysis.

Results During the study period, 673 patients were included. From them, 50.52% were women (median age: 72 years old). The number of patients that visited ED again was 11.44% (77/673). The total amount of repeated visits was 83. Several patients [46.75% (36/77)] came back due to same issue. The main issues to revisit were respiratory infection [11.68% (9/77)], unbalanced heart failure and urinary tract infection [both 10.38%(8/77)], and COPD flare-ups [7.8% (6/77)]. The repeated visits related to medication were 57.83% (48/83) of cases. The main pharmacotherapeutic groups related to the ED were: cardiovascular-system [35.41% (17/48)], anti-infective group [20.83% (10/48)] and respiratory-system [12.5%(6/48)].

Conclusion and Relevance From the approved/thoroughly checked patients that came to ED, 1/10 came back at least once and. In over half of the cases, repeated visits were related to medication, and specifically to issues where cardiovascular or anti-infectious medication were involved. To learn about the repeated visits to ED and how they are related to pharmacotherapy could help select patients who could benefit from an outpatient pharmacotherapeutic appointment after being discharged, aiming to reduce the amount of repeated ED visits related to medication.

Conflict of Interest No conflict of interest.