The urgent neurological consultation in the population of the province of Ferrara, Italy

In the province of Ferrara, Italy, the urgent neurological consultation (UNC) cases in the population correspond to the resident outpatients who undergo a UNC in the ER of the university hospital of Ferrara (UHFe). Thanks to this health organization a retrospective survey identified 612 UNC cases (range of age 7–102 years, median 67,5 years) in the study period giving a period prevalence rate of 173 per 100,000 (95% CI 159.3–187.3) which increased with age (χ 2 for trend = 178.4 p < 0.001). The daily UNC cases (range 0–14, mean = 7.3, 95% CI 7.1–7.5) followed the Poisson distribution (goodness-of-fit test: λ = 7.3, χ 2 = 8082, 12 freedom degrees, p > 0.70). The prevalence rate decreased with the distance between the patients’ residence and the UHFe (χ 2 for trend = 82.9, p < 0.001). The commonest clinical conditions requiring UNCs were acute cerebrovascular disorders (28%), headache (14%), and vertigo (9%). The hospital admission rate was 32.5% which increased with age (χ 2 for trend = 35.8, p < 0.001). The commonest discharge diagnoses of the admitted cases were ischemic stroke (57.3%), epilepsy (7%), TIA (6%), and intraparenchymal hemorrhage (5.5%). Acute cerebrovascular disease accounted for 69% of the discharge diagnoses. The survey showed that the UNCs’ demand was higher than previous Italian data confirming that acute cerebrovascular disease is the most frequent acute neurological condition requiring attention in the ER. It also suggested that the UNCs could be poorly appropriate. These findings would require the healthcare administrators attention.