Syncope Burden: Economic Impact of Syncope on Health-Care Resources and Personal Well-Being

Abstract

Transient loss of consciousness (T-LOC) accounts for approximately 1% of emergency department (ED) visits based on data derived from various studies in Italy, France, and the USA.1, 2 In the USA, this percentage translated into >1,127 million visits in 2006 based on “primary diagnoses” of “syncope and collapse” recorded in the 2006 National Hospital Ambulatory Care survey, and >411,000 hospital admissions when these diagnoses were listed among discharge diagnoses. Furthermore, recent US estimates indicate that T-LOC accounts annually for >16 million physician office visits, ED visits, and outpatient clinic visits.