Assessing frequency of seeking emergency health service by patients

Aim. To analyze frequency of seeking emergency health service by population using the developed terminology (criteria). Methods. The call cards of patients who sought emergency medical care during 2012-2014 in Kazan were the object of the study. To assess the frequency of seeking emergency health service by patients, the following criteria proposed by us were used: single call, rare (from 2 to 4 times a year) and frequent - when calling ambulance occurred 5 times or more within 1 year. Results. Total number of calls to ambulance station in Kazan in 2014 compared to 2012 increased by 8.8%, while the number of executed calls - by 12.3%. A decrease in the number of executed calls for the single ambulance call by 5.4% and in their proportion in the structure of the executed calls by 8.3% was registered. In population calls from 2 to 4 times and 5 times or more per year an increase in the number of executed calls by 31 and 69%, in proportion in the structure of the executed calls by 4.8 and 4.3%, in the number of patients by 29.5 and 67% respectively was registered. In the structure of executed calls in 2014 compared to previous years, there was an increase in the proportion of calls due to urgent care (inappropriate calls) both in total number (by 3.2% compared to 2012), and taking into account calls frequency (from 2.9 to 3.59%). Conclusion. Performed study has shown the need for development of monitoring of the population calls for emergency medical care, depending on their frequency during a year; identified features of the population calls form the basis for the addressing the organizational tasks of primary health care, which will increase the efficiency of the ambulance.

emergency medical care, calls frequency