To evaluate emergency patient care from a chronophysiological perspective, examining
circadian variations in symptom presentations and physiological parameters.Single-centre
retrospective analysis.SETTING: Department of Emergency Medicine, Clinical Centre,
University of Pécs, Hungary (August 2022 to August 2023).Patient data including symptom
categories, time of presentation (divided into eight 3-hour intervals), sex and age
were collected. A total of 32 977 patient records were analysed. Symptoms were classified
using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision. For hypertension,
random proportionally stratified sampling was performed (n=120).Primary outcomes were
the circadian distribution of emergency presentations across 14 symptom categories
and their variation by time of day, age and sex. Secondary outcomes included diurnal
variation in hypertension-related cases, examining blood pressure, pulse rate, triage
time and medication use.Cardiovascular cases peaked between 09:00 and 12:00 (p<0.001),
toxicological emergencies between 18:00 and 21:00 (p<0.001) and endocrine-metabolic
cases between 12:00 and 15:00 (p<0.001). In hypertensive patients, the lowest systolic
pressure occurred between 12:00 and 15:00 (p=0.037). More patients presented on weekdays
than weekends (p=0.013).Symptom presentations in emergency care follow distinct circadian
patterns, highlighting the influence of biological rhythms on clinical demand. Recognition
of these temporal trends may support more effective ED scheduling and resource allocation.
