Articles: hospital-emergency-service.
-
Observational Study
Nature and extent of selection bias resulting from convenience sampling in the emergency department.
To compare the clinical and demographic variables of patients who present to the ED at different times of the day in order to determine the nature and extent of potential selection bias inherent in convenience sampling METHODS: We undertook a retrospective, observational study of data routinely collected in five EDs in 2019. Adult patients (aged ≥18 years) who presented with abdominal or chest pain, headache or dyspnoea were enrolled. For each patient group, the discharge diagnoses (primary outcome) of patients who presented during the day (08:00-15:59), evening (16:00-23:59), and night (00:00-07:59) were compared. Demographics, triage category and pain score, and initial vital signs were also compared. ⋯ Patients with abdominal or chest pain, headache or dyspnoea differ in a range of clinical and demographic variables depending upon their time of presentation. These differences may potentially introduce selection bias impacting upon the internal validity of a study if convenience sampling of patients is undertaken.
-
Multicenter Study
Child Opportunity Index 2.0 and acute care utilization among children with medical complexity.
Disproportionately high acute care utilization among children with medical complexity (CMC) is influenced by patient-level social complexity. ⋯ CMC from low opportunity ZIP codes utilize more acute care. They may benefit from hospital and community-based interventions aimed at equitably improving child health outcomes.
-
Pediatric emergency care · Apr 2022
Did Emergency Department Visits in Infants and Young Children Increase in the Last Decade? An Ontario, Canada Study.
The aims of the study were to measure overall trends and to identify leading causes for pediatric emergency department (ED) visits among children aged 0 to 4 years. ⋯ Respiratory diseases like bronchiolitis among infants were the consistent leading cause for ED visits. All-cause ED visit rates among young children increased by 28.17% from 2008 to 2018.
-
Although the passage of blood in stools in children represents a medical emergency, children seeking emergency department (ED) care remain poorly characterized. Our primary objective was to compare clinical characteristics and etiologic pathogens in children with acute diarrhea with and without caregiver-reported hematochezia. Secondary objectives were to characterize interventions and resource utilization. ⋯ In children with acute diarrhea, caregiver report of hematochezia, compared to the absence of hematochezia, was associated with more diarrheal but fewer vomiting episodes, and greater resource consumption. The former group of children was also more likely to have bacteria detected in their stool.