Academic Department of Pediatrics, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Piazza Sant'Onofrio 4, 00165 Rome, Italy.
Professional Development, Continuing Education and Research Service, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Piazza Sant'Onofrio 4, 00165 Rome, Italy.
Int Emerg Nurs. 2021 Sep;58:101053. doi: 10.1016/j.ienj.2021.101053. Epub 2021 Sep 11.
About 20-30% of children access the Pediatric Accident and Emergency Department (A&E) for non-urgent health care that should normally follow other health care paths. This study aimed to investigate why parents take their children to the A&E for non-urgent visits rather than using primary care services.
A one-year cross-sectional study was conducted in a large pediatric A&E in Italy. A paper-and-pencil 40-item questionnaire was administered to parents of children aged between 3 months to 6 years who accessed the A&E for non-urgent visits between July 2018 and June 2019.
Parents of 238 children completed the questionnaire (mean age = 2.6 years; male 58%). The most common symptoms were fever (n = 105; 44.1%) and skin rash (n = 63; 26.5%); symptoms usually started more than 24 h earlier (n = 163; 69.4%). Reasons for accessing the A&E for non-urgent visits included the availability of rapid medical tests (n = 71; 29.8%), deterioration of the clinical conditions after the pediatrician's visit (n = 67; 28.2%), and the perceived need for urgent care (n = 65; 27.3%). Besides, 26.6% (n = 63) of parents reported not being able to contact their pediatrician before accessing A&E.
Parents may need further education to distinguish between urgent and non-urgent pediatric health conditions.
约 20-30%的儿童因非紧急医疗需求前往儿科急症部（A&E）就诊，而这些情况本应通过其他医疗途径解决。本研究旨在探究家长为何选择带孩子前往 A&E 而非初级保健服务就诊。
在意大利一家大型儿科 A&E 进行了为期一年的横断面研究。2018 年 7 月至 2019 年 6 月期间，对因非紧急情况前往 A&E 就诊的 3 至 6 岁儿童的家长进行了纸质问卷 40 项调查。
238 名儿童的家长完成了问卷（平均年龄 2.6 岁；男性 58%）。最常见的症状是发热（n=105；44.1%）和皮疹（n=63；26.5%）；症状通常在 24 小时以上前开始（n=163；69.4%）。选择 A&E 而非初级保健服务就诊的原因包括可进行快速医疗检查（n=71；29.8%）、在儿科医生就诊后病情恶化（n=67；28.2%）和认为需要紧急护理（n=65；27.3%）。此外，26.6%（n=63）的家长表示在前往 A&E 之前无法联系到儿科医生。
家长可能需要进一步的教育，以区分儿童紧急和非紧急的健康状况。
