S2139 Can Chief Complaints, ‘On Admission’ Vital Signs and Lab Values Really Assist to Predict the Duration of Hospital Stay in Patients With Diagnosis of Acute Gastroenteritis?

Introduction: According to the World Health Organization, annually 2 billion illnesses and over one million deaths occur due to foodborne and waterborne agents causing acute gastroenteritis (AGE). Severe diarrhea is usually associated with abnormal vital signs and electrolytes imbalance. Therefore, this study was conducted with an objective to determine an association of duration of hospital stay of patients diagnosed with AGE with their chief complaints, ‘on admission’ vital signs and lab values. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted with a calculated sample size of 87 based on the prevalence of 6%. The participants included in the study were adult patients (>18 years) with diagnosis of AGE. Patients were grouped according to their length of hospital stay: Group A (1-2 days, n = 45), Group B (3-4 days, n = 45), and Group C (5 or more days, n = 15). Data related to their sociodemographic factors, chief complaints, ‘on admission’ vital signs and lab values were collected. Later, chi-square tests were performed to determine the association of duration of hospital stay of patients with their chief complaints, ‘on admission’ vital signs and lab values. Results: The study reported a total of 105 patients with diagnosis of AGE, out of which majority of them were females (66; 63%), falling in the age group of above >60 years (33; 31.4%), residing in urban areas (64; 61%), and Hindu by religion (81; 77.1%). Most patients were having loose stools for the last 1-3 days (68; 64.8%), afebrile (42; 40%), with no abdominal pain (66; 62.8%), no vomiting (65; 62%). On the basis of statistical analysis, longer duration of hospital stay was significantly associated with male gender (P< 0.05) and age group more than 60 years (P< 0.05). Considering chief complaints, fever for ≥3 days (P< 0.01), vomiting for ≥3 days (P< 0.05), and loose stools ≥3 days (P < 0.05) were statistically significantly associated with longer hospital stay (≥3 days). Considering ‘on admission’ vital signs and lab values, patients with hypotension (P< 0.01), hyponatremia (P< 0.01), and hypokalemia (P< 0.01) were found to be statistically significantly associated with longer duration of hospital stay. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the importance of assessment of chief complaints, ‘on admission’ vitals signs and lab values in patients diagnosed with AGE during their emergency department arrival which can assist healthcare workers to determine the severity and predict the duration of hospital stay for the illness.