Emergency Room regulars twice as likely to die

Scimex: Frequent users of emergency care are more than twice as likely as infrequent users to die, be admitted to hospital, or require other outpatient treatment, concludes an analysis of the available evidence. The available evidence suggests that frequent users account for up to one in 12 patients seeking emergency department care, and for around one in four of all visits. Among the seven studies looking at deaths, the analysis showed that frequent attenders at emergency care departments were more than twice as likely to die as those who rarely sought emergency care.

Most of the studies included hospital admission as an outcome, and these showed that frequent users were around 2.5 times as likely to be admitted as infrequent users.
Ten studies looked at use of other hospital outpatient care, and these showed that frequent users were more than 2.5 times as likely to require at least one outpatient clinic after their visit to the emergency care department.
"Our results suggest that, despite heterogeneity, frequent users are a distinct and high risk group," write the authors, adding that they might benefit from a more targeted proactive approach.
But the lack of any consensus as to what constitutes a frequent user is striking, they emphasise, and this makes it difficult to permit comparison and come up with potentially generalisable recommendations. This needs addressing as a matter of urgency, they say.