Vinelli Nicolás F, Mannucci Carla, Laba Natalia I, del Vecchio Lorenzo, Valerio Andrea, Lago María I, Nieto María M
Departamento de Urgencias, Hospital General de Niños Pedro de Elizalde, Argentina.
Arch Argent Pediatr. 2011 Feb;109(1):8-13. doi: 10.1590/S0325-00752011000100004.
The primary function of an Emergency Department is to assist patients with acute conditions; however, many visits are for nonurgent reasons. The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of nonurgent emergency department visits and to describe the reasons for them.
Cross-sectional and descriptive study, conducted in a Pediatric Hospital. We included patients aged between 1 month and 18 years, who presented to the emergency department during the whole day, in working and non-working days. We defined as nonurgent visits those corresponding to level 5 in the Emergency Severity Index classification.
We included 249 visits; 59% of which were nonurgent. The main reason referred was the difficulty to obtain an appointment in a primary care center (42.9%). Nonurgent visits were more frequent in working days (p= 0.007), conducted by caregivers living within 15 km of the hospital (p= 0.003) and those who used to visit the emergency department when they were children (p= 0.005). Patients with chronic diseases (p= 0.001), those who were referred by another professional (p= 0.002), and caregivers who lived without another adult in their home (p= 0.002) consulted less frequently for nonurgent reasons.
Frequency of nonurgent visits was high. The main reason referred was the difficulty to obtain an appointment with a primary care centre.
急诊科的主要功能是协助治疗急症患者；然而，许多就诊是出于非紧急原因。本研究的目的是估计非紧急急诊科就诊的患病率，并描述其原因。
在一家儿童医院进行的横断面描述性研究。我们纳入了年龄在1个月至18岁之间、在工作日和非工作日全天到急诊科就诊的患者。我们将急诊严重程度指数分类中对应5级的就诊定义为非紧急就诊。
我们纳入了249次就诊；其中59%为非紧急就诊。提及的主要原因是在初级保健中心难以预约（42.9%）。非紧急就诊在工作日更为频繁（p = 0.007），由居住在距离医院15公里以内的照顾者进行（p = 0.003），以及那些小时候常去急诊科就诊的照顾者（p = 0.005）。患有慢性病的患者（p = 0.001）、由其他专业人员转诊的患者（p = 0.002）以及家中没有其他成年人同住的照顾者（p = 0.002）因非紧急原因就诊的频率较低。
非紧急就诊的频率较高。提及的主要原因是在初级保健中心难以预约。
