61 Demographic patterns of emergency presentations to Northern Territory public hospitals Demographic patterns of emergency presentations to Northern Territory public hospitals ANDY H LEE, L YNN B MEULENERS, YUEJEN ZHAO, METHINEE INTRAPANYA, DIDIER P ALMER AND ELIZABETH MOWATT Andy H Lee is associate professor, School of Public Health, Curtin University of Technology; Lynn B Meuleners is research fellow, Injury Research Centre, University of Western Australia; Yuejen Zhao is an epidemiologist in the Northern Territory Department of Health and Community Services; Methinee Intrapanya is a registered nurse, Didier Palmer is director of the Emergency Department, Royal Darwin Hospital and Elizabeth Mowatt is director of Emergency Department, Alice Springs Hospital. Abstract This study investigates demographic patterns of emergency presentations to Northern Territory (NT) public hospitals over the past five years with respect to population changes, Aboriginality and age of patients. Retrospective analysis was undertaken on the 1996-2001 data extracted from the NT Module of Caresys and the Hospital Morbidity Data System. There was a 4.6% decrease in total presentations to the five public hospitals but a 9.4% growth in the population during the study period. Substantial differences in emergency presentation patterns were found between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal patients. There were more Aboriginal presentations than non-Aboriginal presentations for all age groups except for 5 to 19 years and 70 to 74 years. Analysis based on the national triage scale showed the higher needs of older adults with the 60 or over age group accounting for the majority of presentations, and Aboriginal presentation rates exceeded the non-Aboriginal presentation rates in most triage categories. Re-attendance within seven days at the emergency departments occurred predominantly among Aboriginal patients regardless of age group. The analysis has highlighted several emerging demographic patterns. The issue of non-urgent visits by Aboriginal patients occupying a large portion of the emergency department utilisation also needs to be addressed. Background Socio-economic disadvantage and related demographic factors are now recognized as important determinants of health (AIHW, 2001a). The evolving demographics of the Australian population also affects the utilisation of hospital emergency departments (EDs), with record demand for emergency services in recent years (Frommer, 2003). The pressure on ED service delivery has coincided with shortages and high turnover of staff (AIHW, 2001b). Previous research has found the proportion of the population over 65 years and level of deprivation to be strongly associated with an increase in ED visits (Chishty & Packer, 1995). A 10-year retrospective analysis established a direct relationship between ED utilisation and population size, and a historical trend towards increasing patient acuity (Meggs, Czaplijski & Benson, 1999). Studies on ED utilisation have also considered specific age groups (Ziv, Boulet & Slap, 1998), ethnic and immigration groups (Wen, Goel & Williams, 1996)