Emergency department attendance during ramadan

Abstract

Introduction: The month of Ramadan is characterised by changes in dietary and lifestyle habits by those fasting, which could result in medical issues that may have an impact on the utilisation of the Emergency Department (ED) over this time period. Methods: ED attendance was compared during the Ramadan period to a specified Control period, and included a comparison of demographic and clinical features of patients, nationalities, diagnosis profile, time of admission and number of ED admissions. This was a retrospective, observational study set in a private hospital in Dubai, UAE, which included patients aged 16 years and older. Results: A total of 1766 patients presented to the ED, of which 822 (46.5%) were admitted during Ramadan, and 944 patients (53.5%) during the Control period. Although significantly more female patients attended the ED during the Control period, there were no differences in the ages nor the nationalities of the patients. Only one significant difference was noted in diagnoses, which was in the skinrelated category (p = 0.0012). Significantly more patients were seen per day during the Control period compared to Ramadan (p = 0.0057). A significant change in the time of ED attendance for MENA region patients was noted during Ramadan (p=0.0036) with more patients presenting during the night-time, which was not observed in non-MENA region patients. Conclusions: The significant shift in presentation towards the night was most notable in patients from the MENA region, and therefore most likely to be due to fasting. In addition, changes in certain diagnoses and gender distribution over the study period may assist in future ED management planning during Ramadan.