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

Jo, Ho-Suk; Park, Taejin; Yeo, Woonhyung; Ko, Jung-In

J Korean Soc Emerg Med > Volume 31(1); 2020 > Article

Original Article

Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine 2020;31(1): 66-76.

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

Ho-Suk Jo¹

, Taejin Park¹

, Woonhyung Yeo¹

, Jung-In Ko^1,2

¹Department of Emergency Medicine, National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea,
²Department of Emergency Medicine, Kangwon National University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea

Correspondence

Jung-In Ko ,Tel: 02-2260-7414, Fax: 02-2279-7075, Email: emregulus@gmail.com,

Received: June 27, 2019; Revised: August 28, 2019 Accepted: September 4, 2019. Published online: February 28, 2020.

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.
Method:
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.

Key words: Syncope; Circadian rhythm; Infradian rhythm