IMPACT OF FORCED ADMISSION POLICY ON GENERAL SURGERY ADMISSIONS IN KUWAIT’S EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS Saud.alsairafikw@gmail.com

PE073

IMPACT OF FORCED ADMISSION POLICY ON GENERAL SURGERY ADMISSIONS IN KUWAIT’S EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS

7

Kuwait

Poster with Discussion

Kuwait’s Emergency Department forced admission policy (MOH A-ADM 002) requires patient disposition within 2 or 4 hours, often resulting in inappropriate General Surgery admissions.

A retrospective analysis of 192 General Surgery admissions (2024–2025) assessed surgical status, management, length of stay, and transfers using descriptive statistics, Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U tests, and logistic regression.

Of 192 admissions, 45.3% were non-surgical, with a slightly higher proportion under the 2-hour rule (51.7%) versus the 4-hour rule (48.3%) (p = .485). Non-surgical patients frequently presented with non-specific abdominal pain (34.5%) and 36.8% required no intervention. Surgical patients, 31.4% of whom were managed conservatively, had significantly longer hospital stays than non-surgical patients (mean 5.2 vs. 2.41 days, p < .001). Rerouting to other specialties occurred in 12.6% of cases. Logistic regression identified non-specific abdominal pain as a significant predictor of non-surgical admission (OR = 0.438, p = .012).

The forced admission policy contributes to substantial inappropriate General Surgery admissions and resource strain. The 4-hour rule modestly reduces non-surgical admissions compared to the 2-hour rule. Recommendations include refining consultation protocols and expanding specialty capacity to enhance patient flow and care efficiency.