Clinical Profile and Outcome of Patients With Out Attendant Admitted At Emergency
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Date
2025
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Publisher
Addis Ababa Universtity
Abstract
Emergency Department provides timely intervention for patients with life threatening emergency medical and surgical conditions. This is possible through the support and
involvement of families or caregivers during clinical evaluation and management. However,
there are scenarios where patients present to emergency department might be attended to solely
by the patient or by other agents, such as police or passersby, where their presence during the
patient’s emergency stay is impractical. Understanding the clinical characteristics and outcomes
of patients managed without attendants is important for optimizing emergency care delivery and
informing health care planning.
Objective: This study determines the prevalence, clinical profile, and outcome of patients
without attendants in selected governmental hospitals of Addis Ababa.
Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted from August 1/2025, to November
1/2025, in a selected governmental hospital of Addis Ababa. After obtaining ethical clearance,
data were collected by trained personnel from patients, using a data extraction tool and a
questionnaire from patient documents/EMR. Data was cleaned and then exported using SPSS
version 26. Descriptive statistics, including frequency and percentage, were generated for the
prevalence, some clinical profiles, and outcomes of patients without attendant emergency
department admissions. Considering p-value <0.05 with 95% confidence interval, a logistic
regression model was conducted to see the strength of association between major outcomes
and clinical profile of patients without attendants.
Result: One hundred thirty-three (79.2%) participants were male. The median age was 35 years
(IQR:25-46). The prevalence of patients without attendants was 2.57%. The median length of
stay is 11.2days (IQR:5.6-19.7), which looks quite exaggerated. 34(19.6%) of patients died. Male
sex and high acuity patients (triaged as red and orange) were found to be significantly associated
with patient mortality.
Conclusion: The length of stay and mortality rates in patients without attendants are higher than
ED standards. Mortality is significantly associated with male sex and high acuity triage
category.
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Keywords
Patient without attendant, prevalence, length of stay, mortality, Addis Ababa.