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[Perception of medical emergencies in a private pediatric hospital]
Ramón Antonio González-López1, José Iglesias-Leboreiro, Maria Isabel Bernárdez-Zapata
1Universidad La Salle, Facultad Mexicana de Medicina, División de Postgrado, Distrito Federal, México. drmariorendon@gmail.com.
Insights
In pediatric emergency care, doctors' assessment of real urgency for child patients was compared to parental perception. Results showed a low frequency of genuine emergencies, suggesting improved pre-consultation triage can optimize emergency department use.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine
- Healthcare Management
Background:
- Assessing parental perception of urgency versus clinical assessment in pediatric emergency care.
- Understanding the discrepancy between perceived and actual medical emergencies in children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the alignment between parental perception of urgency and physician assessment for pediatric emergency admissions.
- To identify factors influencing perceived emergencies in families versus real urgency.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of emergency department consultations over two years (2009-2010).
- Determination of real urgency by expert consensus on child patient conditions.
- Comparison of sociodemographic factors for real urgency versus perceived urgency.
Main Results:
- 22.7% of 8,888 consultations met real urgency criteria.
- Infectious diseases, accidents, and poisoning were primary causes of real urgency.
- Factors associated with real urgency included age, non-infectious conditions, weekday mornings, and winter months.
Conclusions:
- The study identified a low frequency of real urgency cases in pediatric emergency care.
- Implementing structured pre-consultation patient classification can enhance emergency department efficiency.
- Streamlining triage processes ensures patients with genuine needs receive timely care.
Background:
The aim of this study was to determine if the care of child patients on admission, coincides with perception of real urgency on the part of parents with that of the doctor and not because of perceived worry in the family (perceived emergencies).
Methods:
All the care given in the emergency department, from January 1st 2009 to December 31st 2010, was analyzed. A real urgency was determined by consensus on the conditions of the child. Sociodemographic of real urgency conditions were compared against those perceived.
Results:
8,888 consultations were given, of which 2,024 (22.7 %) met criteria for real urgency. The main causes of real urgency were infectious diseases were followed by accidents and poisoning. Of real emergencies 17 (1 %) eventually required intensive management. Factors associated with real urgency were age, non-infectious disease, occurring between Monday to Friday, during the morning shift and in the winter months.
Conclusions:
The frequency of care for real urgency was low compared to that reported in other pediatric centers. Restructuring of pre-consultation services for the implementation of optimal patient classification before going to emergency helps greatly to optimize the use of the emergency department, deriving the patients in true need sooner.
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