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Audit of an urban paediatric emergency department visits
Zohair J Gazzaz1, Khalid O Dhafar, Othman Maimini
1Department of Health Research, Alnoor Specialist Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Insights
Young children, particularly those with non-urgent respiratory conditions, frequently visit the Emergency Department (ED) during evening shifts. This highlights patterns in pediatric emergency care seeking behavior.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Understanding children's health seeking behavior is crucial for optimizing Emergency Department (ED) resource allocation.
- Pediatric patient volume and reasons for ED visits require detailed analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the health seeking behavior of pediatric patients in an Emergency Department (ED).
- To identify demographic, temporal, and diagnostic patterns of children visiting the ED.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective review of Emergency Department (ED) patient files was conducted for July 2008.
- Data collected included patient demographics, visit times, and primary diagnoses for children aged 12 years and younger.
Main Results:
- Children constituted 29% (6120/21000) of ED visits, with males, Saudis, and ages 1-6 years being most frequent.
- Respiratory system diseases, primarily acute upper respiratory tract infections, were the leading cause for visits (68.1%).
- The evening shift (15:30-23:30) was busiest, with 33% of pediatric cases classified as non-urgent.
Conclusions:
- Young children and non-urgent cases represent a significant proportion of pediatric Emergency Department (ED) visits.
- The evening shift experiences the highest patient traffic, indicating a need for adjusted staffing and resource management.
Background:
This study aimed to highlight the health seeking behavior of children in an Emergency Department (ED).
Materials And Methods:
Retrospective files review of ED was done for the month of July, 2008. Data about the children ≤12 years of age was gathered.
Results:
In one month period a total 21000 patients visited our ED, out of them 6120 (29%) were children. Males, Saudis and children of (1-6 years) were more frequent, i.e., 3540 (57.8%), 5760 (94.1%) and 3180 (52%), respectively. Majority of patients visited in shift "2", i.e., 15:30 hours to 23:30 hours. Among the patients "diseases of respiratory system" were found more frequent 4170 (68.1%) and main diagnosis was "acute upper respiratory tract infection" 3300 (53.9%). Non-urgent cases were 2020 (33%) while 244 (4%) were admitted.
Conclusion:
Young children as well as non-urgent cases were predominant. Evening shift was the busiest one.
