Age distribution of emergency department presentations in Victoria

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To describe patterns of ED utilisation over time, by patient age group and triage classification. METHODS: Secondary analysis of data from all patients presenting to EDs in Victoria utilising the Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD) for the years 2002-2013. The VEMD includes all hospitals in Victoria with 24 h EDs. RESULTS: The absolute number of presentations to EDs in Victoria has grown by over 52% in the last 11 years. The triage categories of highest urgency (1-3) grew by 89% whereas the categories of lowest urgency (4-5) grew by 33%. Over this period, the 5 year age band with the greatest number of ED presentations has consistently been, by far, children 0-4 years of a..