Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Pediatr Pulmonol. 2010 Jan;45(1):83-91. doi: 10.1002/ppul.21162.
Croup is a common pediatric respiratory illness. While croup is generally a mild disease, exacerbations may be seen in the Emergency Department (ED) setting. The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiology of croup presentations to EDs made by infants (<or=2 years old) in the province of Alberta, Canada.
The Ambulatory Care Classification System and other Alberta provincial administrative databases were used to obtain all ED encounters for croup during six fiscal years (April 1999 to March 2005). Information extracted included demographics, ED visit timing, and subsequent visits to non-ED settings. Data analysis included descriptive summaries and directly standardized visit rates.
There were 27,355 ED visits for croup made by 20,019 infants. Most (78.2%) had only one croup-related ED visit; males (62.3% of ED visits) more commonly presented than females. Biennial trends were apparent in the sex standardized visit rates which increased from 43.4/1,000 in 1999/2000 to 49.6/1,000 in 2003/2004 for odd fiscal years, and from 30.9/1,000 in 2000/2001 to 34.1/1,000 in 2004/2005 for even years. The directly standardized visit rates varied by socio-economic proxy: generally Welfare recipients had the highest rates, Aboriginals the lowest. Admission occurred in 8.0% of the cases; 5.4% had a repeat ED visit within 7 days following discharge. Overall, 71.9% of individuals had yet to have a non-ED follow-up visit by 1 week; the estimated median time to the first follow-up visit was 33 days (95% CI: 31-36).
Croup is a common presenting problem in Alberta EDs. The important findings include an overall increase in the rates of presentation over the study period, disparities based on age, sex, and socio-economic/cultural status, and the low rate of early follow-up. Targeted interventions could be implemented to address specific groups and reduce croup-related ED visits.
哮吼是一种常见的儿科呼吸道疾病。虽然哮吼通常是一种轻度疾病，但在急诊室（ED）环境中可能会出现恶化。本研究的目的是描述在加拿大艾伯塔省，婴儿（<或=2 岁）在 ED 就诊的哮吼发生率。
使用门诊护理分类系统和其他艾伯塔省省级行政数据库，获取在六个财政年度（1999 年 4 月至 2005 年 3 月）期间所有与哮吼相关的 ED 就诊信息。提取的信息包括人口统计学、ED 就诊时间和随后在非 ED 环境中的就诊情况。数据分析包括描述性总结和直接标准化就诊率。
共有 20019 名婴儿的 27355 次 ED 就诊与哮吼有关。大多数（78.2%）仅进行了一次与哮吼相关的 ED 就诊；男性（ED 就诊的 62.3%）比女性更常见。在性别标准化就诊率方面，偶数财政年度（2000/2001 年为 30.9/1000，2004/2005 年为 34.1/1000）比奇数财政年度（1999/2000 年为 43.4/1000，2003/2004 年为 49.6/1000）明显增加。直接标准化就诊率因社会经济代理而异：一般来说，福利领取者的就诊率最高，原住民的就诊率最低。在这些病例中，8.0%的患者需要住院治疗；5.4%的患者在出院后 7 天内再次到 ED 就诊。总体而言，71.9%的人在一周内尚未进行非 ED 随访就诊；第一次随访就诊的估计中位数时间为 33 天（95%CI：31-36）。
哮吼是艾伯塔省 ED 常见的就诊问题。重要的发现包括在研究期间就诊率总体增加、基于年龄、性别和社会经济/文化地位的差异以及早期随访率低。可以实施有针对性的干预措施，以解决特定群体的问题并减少与哮吼相关的 ED 就诊。
