The impact of emergency department length of stay on the outcomes of trauma patients requiring hospitalization: a retrospective observational study.

Background: We aimed to explore the impact of the emergency department length of stay (EDLOS) on the outcome of trauma patients.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on all trauma patients requiring hospitalization between 2015 and 2019. Patients were categorized into 4 groups based on the EDLOS (<4 h, 4-12 h,12-24 h, and >24 h). Data were analyzed using Chi-square test (categorical variables), Student's -test (continuous variables), correlation coefficient, analysis of variance and multivariate logistic regression analysis for identifying predictors of short EDLOS and hospital mortality.

Results: The study involved 7,026 patients with a mean age of 32.1±15.6 years. One-fifth of patients had a short EDLOS (<4 h) and had higher level trauma team T1 activation (TTA-1), higher Injury Severity Score (ISS), higher shock index (SI), and more head injuries than the other groups (=0.001). Patients with an EDLOS >24 h were older (=0.001) and had more comorbidities (=0.001) and fewer deaths (=0.001). Multivariate regression analysis showed that the predictors of short EDLOS were female gender, GCS, SI, hemoglobin level, ISS, and blood transfusion. The predictors of mortality were TTA-1 (odds ratio []=4.081, 95%: 2.364-7.045), head injury (=3.920, 95%: 2.413-6.368), blood transfusion (=2.773, 95%: 1.668-4.609), SI (=2.132, 95%: 1.364-3.332), ISS (=1.077, 95%: 1.057-1.096), and age (=1.040, 95%: 1.026-1.054).

Conclusions: Patients with shorter EDLOS had different baseline characteristics and hospital outcomes compared with patients with longer EDLOS. Patients with prolonged EDLOS had better outcomes; however, the burden of prolonged boarding in the ED needs further elaboration.