Environment and waiting behaviors in emergency waiting areas

Environmental conditions and waiting behaviors of 625 children and their families were recorded in the waiting room and suture hall of a children's hospital and a general hospital. Randomized intervention and control days at the children's hospital resulted in children and their families being assigned to an experimental group receiving child life intervention or to a control group who did not receive child life intervention. A second control group at the general hospital did not receive child life intervention. The average waiting time was 1.5 hr. Significant differences were observed in noise level between the children's hospital and general hospital waiting areas, waiting behaviors of children who received child life intervention and those who did not, and parent-child interaction among the three groups. Suggestions for further study regarding the optimal use of waiting time are included.