Paediatric emergency department visits for non-urgent conditions: Can family medicine prevent this?

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic characteristics of the patients and their parents.

Variable	N (%)
Age of the child
Under 5	204 (44.6)
5–10	121 (26.5)
11–16	132 (28.9)
Gender of the child
Male	197 (43.1)
Female	260 (56.9)
Age of the mother
Under 35	199 (43.5)
35 and older	258 (56.5)
Age of the father
Under 35	140 (30.6)
35 and older	317 (69.4)
Educational status of the mother
Elementary School	123 (26.9)
Secondary School	127 (27.8)
High School	184 (40.3)
University	23 (5.0)
Educational status of the father
Elementary School	154 (33.7)
Secondary School	125 (27.4)
High School	95 (20.8)
University	83 (18.2)
Level of Income of the family
Low	119 (26)
Moderate	180 (39.4)
High	158 (34.6)

Table 2. How parents use the paediatric emergency department.

	N (%)
Time of presentation to ED
Within working hours	204 (44.6)
Outside working hours	253 (54.4)
Chronic disease status of the child
Yes	112 (24.5)
No	345 (75.5)
The most important reason for taking children to the ED
Upper respiratory tract problems	106 (23.2)
Gastrointestinal tract problems (abdominal pain-constipation-diarrhea-vomiting)	74 (16.2)
Complaints about worsened general condition (unease, crying, lack of appetite etc.)	73 (16)
Allergies	60 (13.1)
Fever	56 (12.3)
Urological complaints	27 (5.9)
Dermatological complaints	25 (5.5)
Muscle-bone pain	20 (4.4)
Other	16 (3.5)
Parents’ perception of emergency
Very urgent	111 (24.3)
Moderately urgent	192 (42.0)
Less urgent	154 (33.7)
Duration of complaints
Less than 1 h	48 (10.5)
1–24 h	242 (53)
Longer than 24 h	167 (36.5)
Did the parents take the child to the family physician before presenting to the emergency department?
Yes	57 (12.5)
No	400 (87.5)
The number of visits to the emergency department within the last year
Once	116 (27.5)
2–3 times	259 (56.7)
More than 3 times	82 (17.9)

Table 3. The reasons why non-urgent patients prefer the ED over alternative healthcare centres or family physician.

	n (%)
The thought that the complaints of their children would get worse	194 (42.5)
Family physician and other physicians not working at that time	93 (20.4)
The thought that emergency departments provide fast and reliable services	91 (19.9)
The thought that the child needs emergency healthcare	79 (17.3)