Clinical profile and outcomes of patients without an attendant admitted to the emergency departments of selected governmental hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Emergency Department provides timely intervention for patients with life-threatening emergency conditions. This is possible through the involvement of families or caregivers during clinical evaluation and management. However, there are scenarios where patients present to the emergency department solely by themselves or by other agents, such as police or passersby, where their presence during the patient's emergency stay is impractical. Understanding the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients managed without attendants is important for optimizing emergency care delivery and informing health care planning. This study assesses the prevalence, clinical profile, and outcome of patients without attendants in selected governmental hospitals of Addis Ababa.

Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted from August 1 to November 1, 2025, in selected governmental hospitals. After obtaining ethical clearance, data were collected by trained personnel from patients using a data extraction tool and a questionnaire from patient documents/EMR. Data were cleaned and exported to SPSS version 26.

Descriptive statistics, including frequencies and percentages, were generated for the prevalence, clinical profile, and outcomes of patients without an attendant in emergency department admissions. Considering a p-value <0.05 with a 95% confidence interval, a logistic regression model was conducted to assess the strength of association between major outcomes and the clinical profile of patients without attendants.

Results: 137 (79.2%) participants were male. The median age was 35 years (IQR: 25–46). The prevalence of patients without attendants was 2.57%. The median length of stay was 11.2 days (IQR: 5.6–19.7). 34 (19.6%) patients died. Male sex and high-acuity triage category (red and orange) were significantly associated with patient mortality.

Conclusion: The length of stay and mortality rate among patients without attendants are higher than standard ED benchmarks. Mortality is significantly associated with male sex and high-acuity triage category.

Keywords: Patient without attendant; prevalence; length of stay; mortality; Addis Ababa.