Epilepsy monitoring unit length of stay. Epilepsy Behav 2016 May;58:102-5
Date
04/12/2016Pubmed ID
27064830DOI
10.1016/j.yebeh.2016.02.031Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84962781203 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 20 CitationsAbstract
With an increasing focus on quality metrics, hospital length of stay (LOS) in the U.S. has garnered significant scrutiny. To help establish evidence-based benchmarks for epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) metrics, we evaluated the impact of multiple variables on LOS through a retrospective analysis of 905 consecutive inpatient adult EMU admissions. The most common reasons for admission were event characterization (n=494), medication adjustment (n=189), and presurgical evaluation (n=96). Presurgical evaluations experienced a longer average LOS (aLOS) of 7.1days versus patients admitted for other indications (p<0.001). Patients with symptomatic generalized epilepsy (n=22) had a longer aLOS (6.9days) than patients with other types of epilepsy/events (p<0.001). Patients admitted on two or fewer antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) had a shorter aLOS than patients admitted on three or more AEDs (4.3days vs 6.3days, respectively; p<0.001). A history of previous invasive epilepsy management was associated with a longer aLOS than those without (6.2days vs 4.7days, respectively; p<0.0001). Epilepsy monitoring unit aLOS is influenced by admission indication, epilepsy classification, medication burden, and having had prior invasive management. Multiple variables should be considered when analyzing LOS EMU metrics, arguing against a "one size fits all" approach.
Author List
Gazzola DM, Thawani S, Agbe-Davies O, Carlson CAuthor
Chad Carlson MD Professor in the Neurology department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentAdult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Anticonvulsants
Electroencephalography
Epilepsy
Female
Hospitalization
Humans
Length of Stay
Male
Middle Aged
Monitoring, Physiologic
Retrospective Studies
Young Adult
