If examinations undertaken after being admitted to hospital show that there is no underlying serious illness, the patients are dismissed without a specific diagnosis. A Danish study now shows that this was the case in every fourth patient admitted to a Danish clinic in 2010. The results were published in the "European Journal of Internal Medicine".
Researchers from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital analysed data of all 264,265 people acutely admitted to Danish hospitals in 2010. On average, the patients were 64 years old; eleven out of 15 belonged to the age group of 60 to 79 years.
The study showed that one out of four people admitted to hospital were sent home without receiving a diagnosis for the symptoms that had caused admission. On average, these people only spent one day in hospital.
While it is not unusual that there are patients who do not receive a specific diagnosis, their large number is surprising, said study author Christian Eynbo Christiansen. The reasons for this were not analysed. "When the figure is as high as it is, we should consider whether these patients are adequately examined during the hospitalisation", said Christiansen. Because if this is not the case, the risk for a worsening of their condition as well as re-hospitalisation increases.
