Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Are increasing volumes of children and young people presenting to Emergency Departments due to increasing severity of illness?

BACKGROUND: Increasing utilisation of Emergency and Acute Care services by children and young people is a worldwide trend. This is thought to be a result of parent and carer desire for more "on demand" health care assessment and not a consequence of increasing severity of disease. A bespoke acuity assessment system in our department allowed us to test this hypothesis.

METHODS: This data is based on the Paediatric Observation Priority Score, a previously published and validated assessment tool designed specifically for Paediatric Emergency Care [1]. It is scored from 0-16 and consists of physiological, observational and historical components with a unique 'gut feeling' element. Data was available from November 2014 to March 2016.

RESULTS: There has been a 32.6% increase in the number of children with a POPS>4 (Figure 1) with a small (non-significant) increase in relative acuity.

CONCLUSION: In light of the overall total increase in attendances and relative increase in acuity it appears the general cohort of children presenting are more unwell. Given a POPS > 4 is associated with an increased risk of admission for more than 24 hours [1] it can also be concluded that a significant proportion of attendances to the department are 'appropriate'. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app