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. 2013;4(3):175-8.
doi: 10.5847/wjem.j.issn.1920-8642.2013.03.003.

Is routine pregnancy test necessary in women of reproductive age admitted to the emergency department?

Ozlem Köksal  1 , Fatma Ozdemir  1 , Erol Armağan  1 , Nuran Oner  1 , Pınar Çinar Sert  1 , Deniz Sigirli  2
Affiliations

Is routine pregnancy test necessary in women of reproductive age admitted to the emergency department?

Ozlem Köksal et al. World J Emerg Med. 2013.

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to determine the necessity of pregnancy test in women of reproductive age admitted to emergency department (ED) in routine practice.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients who presented to the ED between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2010 and received a pregnancy test.

Results: The median age of 1 586 patients enrolled into the study was 27 years. Of these patients, 19.55% had a positive result of pregnancy test. The most common complaint at admission was abdominal pain in 60.15% of the patients, and pregnancy test was prescribed. 15.83% of the patients with abdominal pain had a positive result of pregnancy test. Of the patients, 30.64% had nausea-vomiting at admission, and 11.52% had a positive result of pregnancy test. When other complaints were considered, the most commonly observed complaints were non-specific symptoms such as dizziness, malaise and respiratory problems. Of the patients, 70.93% were not remembering the date of last menstruation, and 9.51% showed a positive result of pregnancy test. Urinary tract infection (UTI) was commonly diagnosed with an incidence of 17.65%, which was followed by non-specific abdominal pain (NSAP) (16.77%) and gastrointestinal disorders such as gastritis and peptic ulcer (6.87%). Of the patients, 88.40% were discharged from ED, and 11.60% were hospitalized.

Conclusion: Pregnancy test should be given to women of reproductive age as a routine practice in ED in developing countries like Turkey.

Keywords: Emergency Medical Services; Female; Pregnancy; Reproduction.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of the patients in age groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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