Department of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, P.O.BOX 1176, Addis Ababa City, Ethiopia.
Department of Pediatrics, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa City, Ethiopia.
BMC Emerg Med. 2024 Sep 19;24(1):170. doi: 10.1186/s12873-024-01089-5.
Length of stay in the emergency department is used as a quality indicator to gauge the overall efficiency of emergency care. The performance measure was used to evaluate the quality of care provided in the emergency department.
To assess the length of stay and associated factors among pediatric patients admitted to the pediatric emergency unit of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
An institution-based prospective cross-sectional study design was employed. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Data were collected via semi-structured, interviewer-administered questionnaires and chart reviews. Analysis was performed via the Statistical Package for Social Science software version 27. Binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify variables associated with the length of stay. The study was conducted in the Pediatric Emergency Unit of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from March 15 to April 15, 2023.
A total of 268 patients participated in the study, with a response rate of 97.81%. The majority of the participants were male (157, 58.6%), with a median age of 3 years. The study revealed that 180 participants (67.2%) experienced a prolonged length of stay. The variables significantly associated with prolonged length of stay included residency (AOR = 2.04, CI: 1.03, 4.025), triage category (AOR = 3.25, CI: 1.08, 5.974), number of investigations (AOR = 2.381, CI: 1.038, 5.462), and waiting for imaging (AOR = 4.230, CI: 1.638, 10.93).
Many pediatric patients stayed in the emergency room for more than 24 h because of factors such as residency, triage category, number of investigations, and the need for imaging. To address this, we recommend streamlining triage processes, increasing imaging resources, providing additional staff training, developing integrated care pathways, and advocating for policy changes to increase emergency room efficiency and improve patient outcomes.
急诊科的住院时间被用作衡量急诊整体效率的质量指标。该绩效指标用于评估急诊科提供的护理质量。
评估在埃塞俄比亚亚的斯亚贝巴提克里安贝萨专科医院儿科急诊单元收治的儿科患者的住院时间及其相关因素。
采用基于机构的前瞻性横断面研究设计。采用系统随机抽样技术选择研究对象。通过半结构式访谈员管理问卷和病历回顾收集数据。使用社会科学统计软件包版本 27 进行分析。采用二元逻辑回归分析识别与住院时间相关的变量。该研究于 2023 年 3 月 15 日至 4 月 15 日在埃塞俄比亚亚的斯亚贝巴提克里安贝萨专科医院儿科急诊单元进行。
共有 268 名患者参加了研究，应答率为 97.81%。大多数参与者为男性（157 名，58.6%），中位年龄为 3 岁。研究表明，180 名参与者（67.2%）经历了较长的住院时间。与住院时间延长显著相关的变量包括居住地（AOR=2.04，CI：1.03，4.025）、分诊类别（AOR=3.25，CI：1.08，5.974）、检查次数（AOR=2.381，CI：1.038，5.462）和等待影像学检查（AOR=4.230，CI：1.638，10.93）。
由于居住地、分诊类别、检查次数和影像学检查需求等因素，许多儿科患者在急诊科停留时间超过 24 小时。为了解决这个问题，我们建议简化分诊流程，增加影像学资源，提供额外的员工培训，制定综合护理途径，并倡导政策变革，以提高急诊室效率并改善患者结局。
