Diagnostic Patterns in the Evaluation of Patients Presenting with Syncope at the Emergency or Outpatient Departmentopen access
- Authors
- Kang, GH[Kang, Gu Hyun]; Oh, JH[Oh, Ju Hyeon]; Kim, JS[Kim, June Soo]; On, YK[On, Young Keun]; Song, HG[Song, Hyoung Gon]; Jo, IJ[Jo, Ik Joon]; Kim, SJ[Kim, Su Jin]; Bae, SJ[Bae, Su-Jin]; Shin, TG[Shin, Tae Gun]
- Issue Date
- 1-May-2012
- Publisher
- YONSEI UNIV COLLEGE MEDICINE
- Keywords
- Syncope; diagnosis; cost-benefit analysis
- Citation
- YONSEI MEDICAL JOURNAL, v.53, no.3, pp.517 - 523
- Indexed
- SCIE
SCOPUS
KCI
- Journal Title
- YONSEI MEDICAL JOURNAL
- Volume
- 53
- Number
- 3
- Start Page
- 517
- End Page
- 523
- URI
- https://scholarworks.bwise.kr/skku/handle/2021.sw.skku/65437
- DOI
- 10.3349/ymj.2012.53.3.517
- ISSN
- 0513-5796
- Abstract
- Purpose: Patterns of syncope evaluation vary widely among physicians and hospitals. The aim of this study was to assess current diagnostic patterns and medical costs in the evaluation of patients presenting with syncope at the emergency department (ED) or the outpatient department (OPD) of a referral hospital. Materials and Methods: This study included 171 consecutive patients with syncope, who visited the ED or OPD between January 2009 and July 2009. Results: The ED group had fewer episodes of syncope [2 (1-2) vs. 2 (1-5), p=0.014] and fewer prodromal symptoms (81.5% vs. 93.3%, p=0.018) than the OPD group. Diagnostic tests were more frequently performed in the ED group than in the OPD group (6.2 +/- 1.7 vs. 5.3 +/- 2.0; p=0.012). In addition, tests with low diagnostic yields were more frequently used in the ED group than in the OPD group. The total cost of syncope evaluation per patient was higher in the ED group than in the OPD group [823000 (440000-1408000) won vs. 420000 (186000-766000) won, p<0.001]. Conclusion: There were some differences in the clinical characteristics of patients and diagnostic patterns in the evaluation of syncope between the ED and the OPD groups. Therefore, a selective diagnostic approach according to the presentation site is needed to improve diagnostic yields and to reduce the time and costs of evaluation of syncope.
- Files in This Item
- There are no files associated with this item.
- Appears in
Collections - Medicine > Department of Medicine > 1. Journal Articles
Items in ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.