Copyright
©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Correlation between crowdedness in emergency departments and anxiety in Chinese patients
Shuang Wang, Jun-Yi Gao, Xiang Li, Yu Wu, Xiao-Xia Huo, Chao-Xia Han, Meng-Jie Kang, Hong Sun, Bao-Lan Ge, Yu Liu, Ying-Qing Liu, Jian-Ping Zhou, Zhen Wang
Shuang Wang, Xiao-Xia Huo, Chao-Xia Han, Zhen Wang, Department of Emergency Medicine, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100038, China
Jun-Yi Gao, Department of Cardiology, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100038, China
Xiang Li, Meng-Jie Kang, Emergency Intensive Care Unit, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100038, China
Yu Wu, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100038, China
Hong Sun, Department of Emergency Medicine, Peking University People’s Hospital, Beijing 100044, China
Bao-Lan Ge, Department of Emergency Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing 100191, China
Yu Liu, Department of Emergency Medicine, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China
Ying-Qing Liu, Department of Emergency Medicine, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100020, China
Jian-Ping Zhou, Department of Emergency Medicine, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China
Author contributions: Wang S participated in the study design, oversaw the study, was involved in data collection and analysis, performed the statistical analysis, and drafted the manuscript; Gao JY participated in the design of the study and commented on the draft manuscript; Li X was involved in data collection and analysis and assisted in drafting the manuscript; Wu Y was involved in data collection and analysis and assisted in drafting the manuscript; Huo XX was involved in data collection and analysis; Han CX, Kang MJ, Sun H, Ge BL, Liu Y, Liu YQ, and Zhou JP were involved in data collection and analysis and contributed to the statistical analysis; Wang Z participated in design and oversight of the study and commented on the draft manuscript; all authors read and approved the final version of the submitted manuscript.
Supported by the Capital Nursing Research Special Project, No. 17HL21.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the institutional review board of Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University (Beijing, China) (No. SJT 2018-12).
Clinical trial registration statement: This study is not a clinical trial study.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided written informed consent prior to enrollment in the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors of this manuscript have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Data sharing statement: The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Zhen Wang, MD, PhD, Director, Professor, Department of Emergency, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 10, Tieyi Road, Yangfangdian, Haidian District, Beijing 100038, China.
wangzhen1369@aliyun.com
Received: January 17, 2020
Peer-review started: January 17, 2020
First decision: May 1, 2020
Revised: May 13, 2020
Accepted: June 2, 2020
Article in press: June 2, 2020
Published online: July 6, 2020
Processing time: 172 Days and 0.2 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Previous publications noted that overcrowding can lead to dysfunction of the ED because of the excessive number of patients waiting to be seen, undergoing assessment and treatment, or waiting to be discharged, in relation to the hospital’s physical or staffing capacity.
Research motivation
Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is a severe concern and an important manifestation of dysfunction in the medical system, resulting in a decline in the quality of emergency medical services.
Research objectives
To investigate correlations between crowdedness in EDs and anxiety in ED visiting Chinese inpatients and outpatients and nurses, and to identify potential factors affecting their anxiety level.
Research methods
The State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI Form Y) questionnaire was used to investigate patients’ and nurses’ anxieties, while crowdedness of EDs was evaluated with the National Emergency Department Over Crowding Score (NEDOCS).
Research results
ED overcrowding did not directly correlate with patients’ and nurses’ anxiety level, but anxiety of inpatients correlated with waiting time, number of patients treated, and number of nurses in the ED.
Research conclusions
The anxiety of patients in EDs correlates with patient to staff ratio.
Research perspectives
Effectively implementing a national policy for reducing unnecessary ED visits and optimizing the procedures for emergency patient diagnosis and treatment might become effective means to reduce the anxiety of patients in EDs.
