TY - JOUR
T1 - Clinical outcome of vertigo patients receiving inpatient hospital care in a regional central hospital
T2 - Influence of a decrease in the number of full-time doctors and hospital beds
AU - Nishikawa, Hitoshi
AU - Hidaka, Hiroshi
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2011 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - In a regional central hospital, the number of hospital inpatients with vertigo decreased along with a decrease in full-time doctors in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and a decrease in the number of hospital beds. The reason for this trend is that emergent and surgical diseases requiring hospital treatment were given priority; for patients with vertigo disorders, admission was adjusted so as to focus on patients with objective findings (such as cranial nerve and auditory disorder findings). The number of patients with vertigo who are hospitalized in our department has decreased; however, this trend has had a minimal effect on other departments. The number of cases requiring hospitalization as a result of vertigo can be limited, and treatment can be provided on an outpatient basis. When limiting hospitalization, the differentiation of central nervous system disorders is important. Based on the characteristics of vertigo, the condition tends to be treated on an outpatient basis in many cases. Hence, attention should be paid to reducing the dependency on physicians on duty (such as physicians from other departments who provide medical treatment to patients at the time of their initial visit), to differentiating central nervous system disorders, and to explaining the initial treatments to patients with vertigo and their family members.
AB - In a regional central hospital, the number of hospital inpatients with vertigo decreased along with a decrease in full-time doctors in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and a decrease in the number of hospital beds. The reason for this trend is that emergent and surgical diseases requiring hospital treatment were given priority; for patients with vertigo disorders, admission was adjusted so as to focus on patients with objective findings (such as cranial nerve and auditory disorder findings). The number of patients with vertigo who are hospitalized in our department has decreased; however, this trend has had a minimal effect on other departments. The number of cases requiring hospitalization as a result of vertigo can be limited, and treatment can be provided on an outpatient basis. When limiting hospitalization, the differentiation of central nervous system disorders is important. Based on the characteristics of vertigo, the condition tends to be treated on an outpatient basis in many cases. Hence, attention should be paid to reducing the dependency on physicians on duty (such as physicians from other departments who provide medical treatment to patients at the time of their initial visit), to differentiating central nervous system disorders, and to explaining the initial treatments to patients with vertigo and their family members.
KW - Central nervous system disorders
KW - Decrease in full-time doctors
KW - Hospitalization adaptation
KW - Regional central hospital
KW - Vertigo patients
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U2 - 10.3757/jser.70.238
DO - 10.3757/jser.70.238
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:80053908995
VL - 70
SP - 238
EP - 244
JO - Equilibrium Research
JF - Equilibrium Research
SN - 0385-5716
IS - 4
ER -