INTRODUCTIONUnscheduled reattendances at the paediatric emergency department may contribute to overcrowding, which may increase financial burdens. The objectives of this study were to determine the rate of reattendances and characterise factors influencing these reattendances and hospital admission during the return visits.

METHODSMedical records of all patients who attended the emergency department at KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore, from 1 June 2013 to 31 May 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. We collected data on patient demographics, attendance data and clinical characteristics. Planned reattendances, recalled cases, reattendances for unrelated complaints and patients who left without being seen were excluded. A multivariate analysis was conducted to determine the odds ratio of variables associated with hospital admission for reattendances.

RESULTSOf 162,566 children, 6,968 (4.3%) returned within 72 hours, and 2,925 (42.0% of reattendance group) were admitted on their return visits. Children more likely to reattend were under three years of age, Chinese, triaged as Priority 2 at the first visit, and were initially diagnosed with respiratory or gastrointestinal conditions. However, children more likely to be admitted on their return visits were over 12 years of age, Malay, had a higher triage acuity or were uptriaged, had the presence of a comorbidity, and were diagnosed with gastrointestinal conditions.

CONCLUSIONWe identified certain subgroups in the population who were more likely to be admitted if they reattended. These findings would help in implementing further research and directing strategies to reduce potentially avoidable reattendances and admissions.

Adolescent ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Electronic Health Records ; Emergency Medicine ; organization & administration ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; organization & administration ; Female ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Odds Ratio ; Patient Admission ; Patient Readmission ; Pediatrics ; organization & administration ; Singapore ; Triage ; methods

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the predictive accuracy of the triage early warning score (TEWS) in the prognosis and emergency treatment for trauma patients admitted to the emergency department (ED). METHODS: A total of 456 trauma patients (>12 years old) admitted to ED at an education and research hospital in approximately 4 months were prospectively studied. Th e TEWS was recorded in all patients. Th e primary end-point was during 28 days and the emergency responses (such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation/electrical defibrillation, mechanical ventilation) in the ED. RESULTS: Patients with TEWS less than or equal to 9, from 10 to 13, or greater or equal to 14 had mortality rates of 0.98%, 52.63%, or 80%, respectively. An increase in 1 point within the range of 17-point TEWS would be associated with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.14 for death [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.759 to 2.604]. In predicting mortality rates during 28 days, the cut-point was greater than 8, the sensitivity was 87.10% (95% CI: 70.2% to 96.4%), the specificity was 92.47% (95% CI: 89.5% to 94.8%), and the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCROC) was 0.929 (95% CI: 0.902 to 0.951). Th e AUCROC of TEWS in predicting the emergency responses for CPR/electrical defibrillation application or mechanical ventilation was 0.969 (95% CI: 0.949 to 0.983) or 0.897 (95% CI: 0.865 to 0.923), respectively. CONCLUSION TEWS is effective in predicting the prognosis and emergency treatment for trauma patients admitted to ED.
Area Under Curve ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; organization & administration ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Prospective Studies ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Triage ; methods ; Wounds and Injuries ; diagnosis

The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a triage method to prevent unnecessary emergency department visits of out-of-hospital poisoned patients. From October 2003 to September 2004, the calls that lay persons gave to the Seoul Emergency Medical Information Center to seek advices on the out-of-hospital poisoned patients were enrolled. We designed a triage protocol that consisted of five factors and applied it to the patients. According to the medical outcomes, we classified the patients into two groups, the toxicity-positive and the toxicity-negative. We arranged the factors on the basis of the priority that was determined in order of the odds ratio of each factor for the toxicity-positive and made a flow chart as a triage method. Then we calculated a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the method. We regarded the specificity as the ability of the method and the sensitivity as the safety. A total of 220 patients were enrolled in this study. The method showed a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 99.2%, 53.4%, 76.2%, and 97.9%, respectively. Our triage method prevented 53.4% of the unnecessary emergency department visits of outof-hospital acutely poisoned patients, safely.
Triage/methods/*organization & administration ; Telephone ; Telemedicine/methods/*organization & administration ; Severity of Illness Index ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Risk Factors ; Risk Assessment/*methods ; Reproducibility of Results ; Prognosis ; Poisoning/*diagnosis/*therapy ; Male ; Korea ; Humans ; Female ; Emergency Medical Services/methods/*organization & administration ; Decision Trees ; *Decision Support Techniques ; Child, Preschool ; Child ; Adult ; Adolescent

PURPOSE: In this study, we determined the long-term effects of the Independent Capacity Protocol (ICP), in which the emergency department (ED) is temporarily used to stabilize patients, followed by transfer of patients to other facilities when necessary, on crowding metrics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A before and after study design was used to determine the effects of the ICP on patient outcomes in an academic, urban, tertiary care hospital. The ICP was introduced on July 1, 2007 and the before period included patients presenting to the ED from January 1, 2005 to June 31, 2007. The after period began three months after implementing the ICP from October 1, 2007 to December 31, 2010. The main outcomes were the ED length of stay (LOS) and the total hospital LOS of admitted patients. The mean number of monthly ED visits and the rate of inter-facility transfers between emergency departments were also determined. A piecewise regression analysis, according to observation time intervals, was used to determine the effect of the ICP on the outcomes. RESULTS: During the study period the number of ED visits significantly increased. The intercept for overall ED LOS after intervention from the before-period decreased from 8.51 to 7.98 hours [difference 0.52, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.04 to 1.01] (p=0.03), and the slope decreased from -0.0110 to -0.0179 hour/week (difference 0.0069, 95% CI: 0.0012 to 0.0125) (p=0.02). CONCLUSION: Implementation of the ICP was associated with a sustainable reduction in ED LOS and time to admission over a six-year period.
Aged ; *Clinical Protocols ; *Crowding ; Efficiency, Organizational ; Emergency Service, Hospital/*organization & administration/utilization ; Female ; Hospital Planning/*methods ; Hospitals, Urban/*organization & administration/utilization ; Humans ; Length of Stay/*statistics & numerical data ; Male ; Outcome and Process Assessment (Health Care) ; Patient Admission/statistics & numerical data ; Patient Transfer/statistics & numerical data ; Regression Analysis ; Time ; Time Factors ; Triage