Assessment of the Causes of Discharge against Medical Advice in Hospitalized Patients in Emergency Department

Abstract Introduction: When the patient discharges from the hospital against medical advice because of dissatisfaction, the treatment will not be complete and can lead to serious complications for the patient. Objective: This research is done, with the aim of reviewing the reasons of discharging against medical advice of hospitalized patients in emergency department in Razi hospital, Rasht, 2016-2017. Materials and Methods: The type of research is descriptive and retrospective. Sampling of this study was done by census method so that all patients discharged against medical advice from emergency department of Rasht, Razi hospital in 2016-2017, were evaluated. To collect the data, we used the information in discharging forms against medical advice, available in the discharged patient’s files. Results: In this research, most of the discharged persons against medical advice were males (60/9%), and married (81/3%) with 49/7% of them were admitted at night shift. A number of important reasons for discharging against medical advice were unwillingness to continue treatment (39/4%), general improvement (19/3%) and continued treatment in the private center (11/7%). Conclusion: Based on the results, it seems better to review and rewrite the form of discharge from the hospital against medical advice. The option of unwillingness to continue treatment that is ambiguous should be replaced with more detailed questions and further details. Also, giving the necessary information to the treatment staff about discharging against medical advice and its outcomes, how to properly write the forms of discharging against medical advice and legal issues related to this matter, are all highly recommended. Conflict of interest: non declared