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Baseline Characteristics of the Paediatric Observation Priority Score in Emergency Departments outside Its Centre of
Damian Roland1,2, Fawaz Arshad1, Tim Coats3
1Paediatric Emergency Medicine Leicester Academic (PEMLA) Group, Emergency Department, Infirmary Square, Leicester LE1 5WW, UK.
Insights
The Paediatric Observation Priority Score (POPS) is feasible for use in UK Emergency Departments (EDs). This validated scoring system helps quantify patient acuity, supporting improved clinical decision-making and resource allocation.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine
- Healthcare Quality Improvement
- Clinical Acuity Scoring
Background:
- Emergency Departments (EDs) often lack validated scoring systems for patient acuity.
- The Paediatric Observation Priority Score (POPS) is a tool to quantify patient acuity in pediatric settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate the POPS system in UK Emergency Departments.
- To determine the baseline performance characteristics of POPS in a UK context.
Main Methods:
- POPS was implemented across four UK EDs for pediatric patients (0-16 years).
- Participants were categorized based on disposition: ED discharge, 7-day readmission, or admission (≤24 hours or >24 hours).
Main Results:
- 3323 children were analyzed, with POPS scores ranging from 0 to 11 (mean 2.33).
- Significant differences in admission/discharge rates were observed for POPS scores > 5 (p < 0.01).
- POPS scores 5-9 showed an increased odds ratio for readmission (2.05) compared to scores 0-4.
Conclusions:
- POPS implementation is feasible in UK EDs, demonstrating comparable performance to its original development site.
- Evidence supports further evaluation to refine and enhance POPS performance for broader health service application.
Objectives And Background:
Scoring systems in Emergency Departments (EDs) are rarely validated. This study aimed to examine the Paediatric Observation Priority Score (POPS), a method of quantifying patient acuity, in EDs in the United Kingdom, and determine baseline performance characteristics.
Methods:
POPS was implemented in 4 EDs for children (ages of 0 to 16) with participants grouped into 3 categories: discharged from ED, discharged but with return within 7 days, and admitted for less or more than 24 hours.
Results:
3323 participants with POPS scores ranging from 0 to 11 (mean = 2.33) were included. The proportion of each POPS score varied between sites with approximately 10-20% being POPS 0 and 12-25% POPS greater than 4. Odds ratio of readmission with POPS 5-9 against 0-4 was 2.05 (CI 1.20 to 3.52). POPS 0-4 showed no significant difference (p = 0.93) in relation to admission/discharge rates between sites with a significant difference found (p < 0.01) for POPS > 5.
Conclusion:
It is feasible to implement POPS into EDs with similar performance characteristics to the original site of development. There is now evidence to support a wider health service evaluation to refine and improve the performance of POPS.
