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Exploring parents' reasons for attending the emergency department for children with minor illnesses: a mixed methods
Ahmet Butun1, Mark Linden1, Fiona Lynn1
1The School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK.
Insights
Parents often take children with minor illnesses to the emergency department (ED) due to perceived urgency, convenience, and difficulties accessing primary care. Understanding these reasons is key to reducing non-urgent ED visits and healthcare system strain.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Emergency Medicine
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Emergency departments (EDs) face increasing pressure globally due to rising patient numbers.
- Parental use of EDs for pediatric minor illnesses presents a significant, unresolved healthcare challenge.
- This study addresses the growing concern of ED overcrowding and its impact on healthcare services.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and synthesize existing literature on parental motivations for seeking emergency care for children with non-urgent conditions.
- To identify and summarize the primary reasons cited by parents for choosing the ED for pediatric minor illnesses.
- To inform strategies aimed at optimizing ED resource allocation and improving primary care access.
Main Methods:
- A comprehensive literature search was conducted across seven major electronic databases (Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus).
- The search was performed in August 2016 and updated in June 2018, covering a 2-week period for each.
- Included studies were assessed for quality, and data were analyzed using narrative synthesis, encompassing both qualitative and quantitative research.
Main Results:
- Twenty-four studies met the inclusion criteria, utilizing quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods approaches.
- Key parental reasons for ED utilization included perceived urgency, perceived ED advantages (speed, resources), challenges in obtaining general practitioner appointments, and primary care service limitations.
- Other significant factors comprised lack of health insurance, desire for reassurance, convenience, and accessibility of ED services.
Conclusions:
- Parental decisions to visit EDs for pediatric minor illnesses are complex and multifactorial.
- Understanding these underlying reasons is crucial for developing targeted interventions to reduce unnecessary ED attendances.
- This review provides valuable insights for policymakers, researchers, and healthcare professionals to better address parental needs and alleviate pressure on emergency services.
Background:
The number of EDs visit is on the increase, and the pressure on EDs is of significant concern worldwide. The usage of EDs by parents of children with minor illness is an important and still unresolved problem causing a burden to healthcare services. The aim of this study was to review the literature to summarise parental reasons for visiting ED for children with minor illness.
Method:
Seven electronic databases (Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus) were comprehensively searched during a 2-week period in August 2016 and updated between 11 and 20 June 2018. The study selection process was undertaken independently by two authors. Qualitative and quantitative studies that focused on the reasons for parents of children with minor illness to attend an ED were included. Studies were assessed for quality and data were analysed by means of narrative synthesis.
Results:
Twenty-four studies were included. Eleven studies employed quantitative methods, eleven studies used qualitative methods and two studies used mixed methods. Parental reasons for using ED included perceived urgency, ED advantages (eg, faster service, superior ED resources and efficiency), difficulties with getting a general practitioner appointment, lack of facilities in primary healthcare services, lack of health insurance, reassurance, convenience and access.
Conclusion:
This review identified some of the reasons why parents bring their children to the ED for minor illnesses highlighting the multifaceted nature of this problem. Understanding parental reasons behind their choice to use the ED may help us better design targeted interventions to reduce unnecessary ED visits and alleviate the burden on overstretched healthcare services. This review may help inform emergency care policy makers, researchers and healthcare staff to understand parents' reasons for visiting the ED, to better meet their healthcare needs.