LENGTH OF CONSULTATION WITH PATIENTS IN EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE BELGRADE
Abstract
Introduction: The length of consultation is the time the patient is taking with the doctor.
Objective: To examine the length of consultations in the ambulance of Emergency Medical Service Belgrade.
Methodology: An electronic data base of length of consultation was analyzed for patients in the The City Emergency Medical Assistance Office Belgrade. In patients sent to another health facility, waiting for a transfer to a higher-ranking healthcare institution was regarded as the time of consultation. In the statistical processing, the software package SPSS 11.0 for Windows is used. Statistical significance is defined for p <0.05.
Results: The average consultation time was 21.07 ± 13.44 minutes. It usually lasted from 10 to 20 minutes. Consultations were longer for female patients (21.68 minutes), older then 65 (24.65 minutes), when she had more diagnosis (26.1 and 27.28 minutes), as well as when the therapy was given in the outpatient clinic (25.72 minutes), or the patient was sent to another higher-rank health institution. The differences were statistically significant. In terms of diagnosis, consultations lasted the longest (average 30.88 minutes) in patients with infectious diseases (an average of 30.88 minutes), followed by diseases of the blood system (27.86 minutes) and respiratory diseases (21.56 minutes). The differences were statistically significant.
Conclusion: The patient's age, sex, diagnosis of his illness and treatment process affect the length of the consultation. In terms of diagnosis, consultations lasted the longest in patients with infectious diseases, diseases of the circulatory system and respiratory diseases.
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