Characteristics And Risk Factors Of Newborn Infants Who Visited Emergency Department

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study aimed to improve emergency care for future neonatal patients. METHODS: We conducted a clinical analysis of neonatal patients who visited the emergency department of Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital from January 2004 to December 2012. We reviewed the medical records of 972 neonates less than 28 days of age. RESULTS: The male:female ratio was 1.2:1. In terms of patient inflow, the peak month was September (10.3%), the peak day of the week was Saturday (205%), and the peak time of the day was 18:00-23:59 (39.0%). The most common symptom was fever (17.7%), and final outcomes were as follows: approved discharge (50.1%), admittance to the hospital (37.6%), transfer to another hospital (3.2%), discharge against medical advice (3.0%) and death (0.1%). There was no difference in the number of visits for irritability based on sex, age of the child, maternal age, parity, gestation, birth weight, type of birth, or season. However, the proportion of discharges was significantly higher in the group comprising the irritable infants (77.4%) than in the group comprising non-irritable infants (50.4%) (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: A newborn's transition from intrauterine to extrauterine life involve numerous physiologic and biochemical changes. Some visits are due to non-serious diseases, and reflect insufficient knowledge and information of the parents; this highlights the pressing need for parents' education.