The district hospital emergency department: Why do parents present?

OBJECTIVE

To identify parental reasons for presenting their child to the emergency department and their expectations of the consultation.

METHOD

Cross-sectional survey of parents of children and adolescents aged 14 years and under who presented to the Fairfield Emergency Department over a 2-month period.

RESULTS

A questionnaire was returned from 694 of 839 eligible presentations (83%), with 51% having an urgent triage and 26% being admitted. Proximity was nominated as the reason for choosing the Fairfield Emergency Department by 48%, 62% of presentations were self-referred and 44% had already seen another doctor. An urgent triage was associated with parental expectation of admission or observation in the emergency department (OR 2.79 [95% CI: 1.98-3.94]).

CONCLUSIONS

The majority of presentations to the district emergency department are self-referred and it is chosen because of proximity. The majority of children do not require admission; however, parents often have expectations that observation and further investigation will occur prior to discharge from the emergency department.