Profile of Patients Admitted to the Receiving Emergency Department of the National University Hospital Center of Fann (Senegal)

The emergency department is the showcase of the hospital. It is the interface of reception, diagnosis, and treatment between the home and the hospital. The Fann reception and emergency department were inaugurated on March 27, 2013, by the Minister of Health and Social Action. This work describes the sociodemographic, clinical, and therapeutic characteristics of emergencies admitted to the National University Hospital of Fann.

The study was retrospective and descriptive. The authors collated all patients admitted to the reception and emergency department of Fann between April 1, 2013, and December 31, 2013, inclusive, that is, over nine months.

The results revealed that 16,325 users had attended the emergency department in 2013. The average age was 51.3 years with a slight male predominance (54.5%). More than half of the patients (54%) were married. Residents of the city of Dakar constituted the largest proportion (57.5%). Of all the patients admitted, 85% of them had consulted at their own expense and 15% had health insurance. Emergency department attendance varied according to the day, with peaks during on-call hours (66%) and half of the cases occurred at weekends. The most frequent reasons for referral were disorders of consciousness (35.4%) and motor deficit (18%). The diagnosis in the emergency department was dominated by neurological pathologies in 47.5% of cases, with a marked frequency of cerebral vascular accidents. Overall, the majority (93%) of patients admitted had a clinical condition considered serious (CCEM 3= 41%; CCEM 4= 45%). Mortality of admissions (18.3%) was higher in those aged 65 years and older.

The emergency room is a complex and paramount problem. Based on the observations of our study, the reception and emergency department of the Fann National University Hospital must be equipped with enough qualified medical and paramedical personnel. A system allowing the improvement of the relations between the services of the hospital and between the other hospitals of the country must be effective. The creation of a polyvalent resuscitation service will also be of great help.