Characteristics of emergency department visits and of the top 10% (≥ 3 visits/year) of emergency department users in British Columbia, 2012/13 to 2015/16
| Characteristic | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total no. of patients | 452 427 | 559 902 | 643 000 | 672 551 |
| Total no. of visits | 757 562 | 942 298 | 1 112 400 | 1 171 839 |
| No. of frequent users (% of all patients) | 62 552 (13.8) | 78 984 (14.1) | 97 120 (15.1) | 102 811 (15.3) |
| No. of visits by frequent users | 284 016 | 355 742 | 442 854 | 472 603 |
| Total no. of visits/100 000 population | 16 362 | 20 019 | 23 290 | 24 116 |
| No. of visits by frequent users/100 000 population | 6134 | 7558 | 9272 | 9726 |
| % of total visits attributable to frequent visits | ||||
| Top 10% users | 37.5 | 37.7 | 39.8 | 40.3 |
| Top 5% users | 25.5 | 25.4 | 27.2 | 27.7 |
| Top 1% users | 8.6 | 8.2 | 8.9 | 9.5 |
| No. of visits, median (IQR) | 4 (3–5) | 4 (3–5) | 4 (3–5) | 4 (3–5) |
| Frequent emergency department users | ||||
| Patient characteristics | ||||
| Sex, no. (%) of patients | ||||
| Female | 32 881 (52.6) | 41 551 (52.6) | 51 639 (53.2) | 54 585 (53.1) |
| Male | 29 655 (47.4) | 37 420 (47.4) | 45 461 (46.8) | 48 210 (46.9) |
| Unknown | 16 (0.02) | 13 (0.02) | 20 (0.02) | 16 (0.02) |
| Age category, yr, no. (%) of patients | ||||
| 18–29 | 11 252 (18.0) | 13 928 (17.6) | 17 140 (17.6) | 17 962 (17.5) |
| 30–39 | 8766 (14.0) | 11 192 (14.2) | 13 468 (13.9) | 14 320 (13.9) |
| 40–49 | 8651 (13.8) | 10 640 (13.5) | 12 583 (13.0) | 13 088 (12.7 |
| 50–59 | 9130 (14.6) | 11 571 (14.6) | 13 853 (14.3) | 14 899 (14.5) |
| 60–69 | 7879 (12.6) | 10 026 (12.7) | 12 581 (13.0) | 13 447 (13.1) |
| ≥ 70 | 16 874 (27.0) | 21 627 (27.4) | 27 495 (28.3) | 29 095 (28.3) |
| Age at year end, median (IQR), yr | 53 (35–72) | 53 (34–72) | 54 (35–73) | 54 (35–73) |
| Visit characteristics | ||||
| Top 5 diagnostic categories (ICD-10 chapter) | ||||
| Symptoms, signs, and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings (XVIII) | 45 000 (15.8) | 63 544 (17.9) | 82 383 (18.6) | 87 247 (18.5) |
| Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (XIX) | 28 709 (10.1) | 38 390 (10.8) | 49 566 (11.2) | 53 119 (11.2) |
| Mental and behavioural disorders (V) | 13 344 (4.7) | 19 103 (5.4) | 24 023 (5.4) | 28 391 (6.0) |
| Disease of genitourinary system (XIV) | 12 402 (4.4) | 16 595 (4.7) | 22 199 (5.0) | 23 235 (4.9) |
| Diseases of musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (XIII) | 11 376 (4.0) | 15 753 (4.4) | 20 283 (4.6) | 22 025 (4.7) |
| Missing | 105 512 (37.2) | 105 922 (29.8) | 116 761 (26.4) | 122 105 (25.8) |
Note: ICD-10 = International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision, IQR = interquartile range.