Spatio-temporal trend of patients with syncope visiting the emergency department: a single-center, retrospective observational study

ABSTRACT

Objective@#This study examined the frequency of emergency department visits for syncope according to the day, week, and month. The frequency of syncope associated with holidays and the locations was also investigated. @*Methods@#A retrospective study was performed on the frequency of patients discharged from the emergency department with a diagnosis of syncope from July 2016 to June 2017. Each 24-hour period was analyzed in four-hour intervals, and the frequency of occurrence was calculated for weekly and monthly time frames. In addition, the frequency of syncope associated with holidays and the locations where syncope occurred were analyzed for any possible trends. @*Results@#For the 259 patients in this study, the frequency of the reflex syncope was significantly higher between 6 and 10 am (P=0.011), and showed a decreasing trend since that period (P=0.006). The number of reflex syncope visits on Mondays was significantly higher than on the other days (P<0.001) and a decreasing trend after Monday toward the weekend (P=0.023). A significant difference in the frequency of syncope associated with holidays was observed 0.48 on weekdays, excluding the day after a holiday; 0.37 on a holiday; and 0.92 on the day after a holiday (P<0.001). Almost half of the reflex syncope events (44.3%) occurred in the subway. @*Conclusion@#The frequency of syncope was highest in the morning. In addition, reflex syncope showed a higher frequency on the day after a holiday, and the incidence was higher in the subway.