Epidemiologic profile of otorhinolaryngological, head and neck disorders in a tertiary hospital unit in Greece: a challenge for general practitioners?

Table 3 The ten most commonotorhinolaryngological, head and neck disorders related to hospitalisation and specific hospitalisation index (SHI).

Top ten otorhinolaryngological, head and neck disorders related to hospitalisation	Emergency department visits n	Admissions n	S.H.I (range: 0–1**)
Dizziness (all types)*	458	53	0.12
Facial nerve paralysis	64	47	0.73
Peritonsillar abscess/phlegmon	46	44	0.96
Acute tonsillitis	830	31	0.03
Oedema of the larynx	29	29	1.00
Sudden hearing loss	24	23	0.96
Acute sinusitis	371	16	0.04
Nasal epistaxis	229	12	0.05
Various hypersensitivity reactions	49	12	0.24
Indolent lymph node enlargement	39	8	0.21

* including benign paroxysmal positional vertigo
** SHI = Number of admitted patients in clinic/Number of patients seen at emergency department, having a specific diagnosis of otorhinolaryngological, head and neck disorder (in one year).
SHI = 0, none of the patients who attended the emergency department with a specific otorhinolaryngological, head and neck disorder was hospitalised (in one year).
SHI = 1, all the patients who attended the emergency department with a specific otorhinolaryngological, head and neck disorder were hospitalised (in one year).

ISSN: 1472-6815