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Parental perception of urgency and utilization of pediatric emergency services
J Braunstein1, O C Abanobi, J L Goldhagen
1Minneapolis Children's Medical Center, MN 55404.
Insights
Parental perception of urgency does not significantly influence pediatric emergency room visits. Most parents and physicians agree that visits are non-emergent, with no link found between demographics and perceived urgency.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine
- Healthcare Utilization Studies
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Emergency Room (ER) utilization, particularly for pediatric services, has seen a significant increase.
- Parental perception of urgency is a potential driver of ER use, but factors influencing this perception are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if parental perception of urgency critically influences decisions to seek pediatric emergency care.
- To determine if demographic and access factors impact parental urgency perception.
- To assess the agreement between parent and physician urgency ratings for pediatric ER visits.
Main Methods:
- One hundred and one parents were interviewed regarding demographic/access factors and perceived urgency.
- Parental and physician urgency ratings were collected on a 5-level scale.
- Chi-square analysis and Pearson product moment correlation were used to analyze associations and agreement.
Main Results:
- The majority of ER visits were deemed non-emergent by both parents (64.4%) and physicians (75.3%).
- Only 13.9% of parents and 9.9% of physicians rated visits as emergent.
- No significant association was found between demographic/access variables and parental perception of urgency.
Conclusions:
- Parental perception of urgency does not appear to be a primary driver for seeking pediatric emergency care.
- Demographic and access factors do not significantly influence how parents perceive the urgency of their child's condition.
- There is a general agreement between parents and physicians on the non-emergent nature of most pediatric ER visits.
Abstract:
Emergency Room utilization has increased dramatically in recent years. Parental perception of urgency may be one factor that influences utilization of pediatric emergency services, yet little is understood about factors influencing this perception. The goal of this study was to determine if the perception of urgency is a critical factor in the decision of a parent to seek care in an emergency room, if demographic and access factors influence parental perception of urgency, and whether there is agreement of urgency rating by parent and physician. One hundred and one parents were interviewed to determine background demographic and access factors and perception of urgency. Physician and parental urgency was evaluated on a 5 level scale. Chi-square analysis was used to determine association between demographic and access factors and parental urgency ratings. Pearson product moment correlation was used to determine agreement between parent and physician urgency ratings. The majority of visits were acknowledged by both parents and physicians to be non-emergent. Fourteen (13.9%) and 10 (9.9%) of parents and physicians rated the visits as emergent (levels 1 and 2) while 65 (64.4%) parents and 76 (75.3%) physicians rated the visits as nonemergent. No association between demographic or access variables and parental perception of urgency was demonstrated.