Emergency Department Access in Diabetic Patients

Introduction: Access of diabetic patients to Emergency Departments (ED) is an indicator of the filtering capabilities of territorial services. Aims: To analyze the access to ED of the Trento province (540.000 inhabitants-north-east Italy) by diabetic patients in the period 2012-2016. Methods: Accesses of diabetics patients (ICDIXCM 250-251), were analyzed from the Database of ED considering year, gender, age class, month and week day, citizenship, way of arrival, triage score, area (urban/rural) of the residents cases, the proportion of hypoglycemia accesses, hospitalization. Results: A total of 2839 diabetic patients accessed to the ED in the study period (567/year), 70% were type 2. The time trend is slightly decreasing. Males are 54%; the age group 0-14:6%, 15-29 5%, 30+years 89%. Males median age is 61 y, Females median age 66 y. Foreigners represent 10% of the cases. Most subjects arrived by ambulance/helicopter (44%); 2,7% were in red code. There were no differences in relation to the month or day of the week; 52.7% are hospitalized. The ED access rate is 7.7/10.000/year for urban and 10/10.000/year for rural area residents (p Conclusions: The access of diabetic patients to the ED of the province of Trento does not change over time. The proportion of patients with hypoglycemia is considerable, with a higher prevalence in case of type 1 diabetes. It does not change over time and requires substantial costs for the transfer to health structures. Disclosure S. Piffer: None.