Comparison of emergency hospital admissions for drug poisoning and major diseases: a retrospective observational study using a nationwide administrative discharge database

Objective To compare the clinical and procedural characteristics of emergency hospital admissions for drug poisoning and major diseases. Design Retrospective observational study. Setting Discharged patients from 855 acute care hospitals from 1 July to 31 December in 2008 in Japan. Results There were a total of 1 157 893 emergency hospital admissions. Among the top 100 causes, drug poisoning was ranked higher in terms of the percentage of patients using ambulance services (74.1%; second) and tertiary emergency medical services (37.8%; first). Despite higher utilisation of emergency care resources, drug poisoning ranked lower in terms of the median length of stay (2 days; 100th), percentage of requirement for surgical procedures (1.7%; 91st) and inhospital mortality ratio (0.3%; 74th). Conclusions Drug poisoning is unique among the top 100 causes of emergency admissions. Our findings suggest that drug poisoning imposes a greater burden on emergency care resources but has a less severe clinical course than other causes of admissions. Future research should focus on strategies to reduce the burden of drug poisoning on emergency medical systems.